The Nigerian Government and the French Development Agency (AFD) have signed a grant agreement of €25 million for the Northern Corridor Project jointly funded by the European Union and the AFD.

The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, and the AFD Country Director in Nigeria, Xavier Muron, signed the agreement in the presence of the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, and the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Cecile TASSIN-PELZER on Wednesday, 14th September 2022 in Abuja.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, thanked the EU and AFD for their intervention in the Nigerian electricity transmission project and noted that the grant will go a long way in aiding Nigeria’s power improvement plan, especially in the Northern part of the country.  

According to a statement from the AFD, “This project will help TCN to operationalize its “Transmission Expansion Plan”, through the construction of additional Transmission Lines and Substations across nine states in the northern part of the country – Niger, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi and Nassarawa”.

The Honorable Minister of State for Budget and National Planning assured during the signing ceremony that the Federal Government would execute the project efficiently for the economic growth of the country.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engr. Dr. .A. Sule Abdulaziz in his remarks thanked the Federal Government of Nigeria, the European Union and AFD for supporting the Northern Corridor Project which he noted was critical to TCN. He reiterated TCN's commitment to ensuring the timely implementation of the project.

Mr. Xavier Muron, AFD Country Director in Nigeria, highlighted the importance of such project as a technical enabler for the integration of expected solar farms in the North-West part of the country to the grid. He noted that transmission network has been a significant bottleneck in many countries for the achievement of diversified energy mix.

According to Her Excellency, Emmanuelle Blatmann, Ambassador of France to Nigeria “France is committed to helping Nigeria achieve its commitments on climate change in line with the Paris Agreement and that she welcomed this Team Europe piece of work to address it”.

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, the Head of Cooperation, Cecile TASSIN-PELZER on her part said; “We appreciate this Team Europe collaboration with the Government of Nigeria, which is a concrete example of how the EU Global Gateway can contribute to major investments in infrastructure development”.

The Northern Corridor Project, being implemented by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), is meant to strengthen a low-carbon economic growth in West Africa by improving the quality of the electricity network in Nigeria and supporting the development of a regional electricity market under the West African Power Pool (WAPP).

The Project entails the building of more than 800km of 330kV double circuit transmission lines and the construction or upgrade of 13 substations.

The grant agreement signed at the ceremony represents EU’s contribution to the Project to complement the AFD contribution of €202 million which was signed in December 2020. The total cost of the Project is approximately 238 million Euros including TCN's 12 million Euros contribution.

In terms of expected impact, 5GW additional evacuation capacity is to be created under the Project with the Potential Transmission of 17TWh additional electricity every year. In addition to the improved evacuation capacity, there will be increased access to adequate and stable power and better quality of electricity supply services both in the short and long term. The Project is also expected to bring about job opportunities as approximately 600 jobs (500 during the construction phase and 100 in the operation phase) are to be created.