India Offers $100mn to Improve Nigeria's Power Supply

He commended the Skipper Group, an Indian company that has a long association with Nigeria. "Unlike many other foreign concerns which are content to execute projects on tactical basis, India's Skipper Group has over the past decade invested in this country to create manufacturing and repair capacity, transfer of technology and generate employment."

"The Group has shown its faith in Nigeria's power sector and is planning to expand its operations here from transmission to power generation and other areas of economic activity in Nigeria," Sachdev added.

Participation in the sector by such foreign companies is a welcome news to Nigerians. Ekpo said there is the need to attract private investors to the sector to remove key challenges such as corruption and poor management. In addition there are some bottlenecks that are yet to be removed.

Ekpo identified the absence of a cost-reflective tariff as a key reason "why the power sector has failed to serve Nigerians in the past three decades", adding: "Without a cost-reflective tariff, no utility provider will enter the market."

Power Minister Bart Nnaji admitted that there was a "gross" deficit in the country's electricity tariff but hoped that reforms in the sector would help correct this. "We know there are gross deficits but just give us a chance and you will see power grow in the country," he added.

Nnaji said the government was preparing to inaugurate power plants in some designated locations that would boost electricity output in the country. Some people have doubts on the government's proposal because of past experiences.

Trade Union Congress President Peter Esele said the government last December promised to increase power generation by 4,000 MW but there was no explanation as to why this target was not met. "We have not also been told what happened to the huge expenditure on that sector so that we understand their challenges and why it was not met.