NIGERIA ELECTRICITY SECOND WORST IN THE WORD – WORD BANK

A report by the World Bank has described Nigeria as the second worst country with high electricity access deficit in the world.
According to the report, about 82.4 million Nigerians lack access to electricity .
In an assessment of the worst 20 countries in the world released on the World Bank’s Twitter handle, Nigeria came second to India with a population of 306.2 million people with lack of access to electricity, with an annual increase in access to electricity at the rate of 1.8 per cent.

The report which is to help assess the level of progress of countries under the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative was launched last year at the 2012 Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development.
Nigeria also came fifth among the 20 countries with the highest deficit in access to non-solid fuel.
The report states that in Nigeria’s 117.8 million people still use these non-solid fuel including firewood, charcoal, and other such cooking sources.
India came tops in the rating of the countries with lack of access to non-solid fuel with 705.0 million people.
This is followed by China with 612.8 million people, Bangladesh with 134.9 million people and Indonesia with 131.2 million people.
The report said that; “the achievement of universal access to modern energy will depend critically on the efforts of 20 high-impact countries (Nigeria inclusive).
“Together, these countries account for more than two-thirds of the population presently living without electricity (0.9 billion people) and more than four-fifths of the global population without access to non-solid fuels (2.4 billion people).
“This group of 20 countries is split between Africa and Asia. For electricity, India has by far the largest access deficit, exceeding 300 million people, while for non-solid cooking fuel India and China each have access deficits that exceed 600 million people.

“The access challenge is particularly significant in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is the only region where the rate of progress on energy access fell behind population growth in 1990–2010, both for electricity and for non-solid fuels.
According to Kandeh Yumkella, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All, the initiative seeks to achieve, by 2030, universal access to electricity and safe household fuels, a doubled rate of improvement of energy efficiency, and a doubled share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

“The report’s framework for data collection and analysis will enable us to monitor progress on the SE4ALL objectives from now to 2030,” he said.
On its part, the World Bank expressed fears that Africa faces acute energy challenges with the lowest electrification rate of all the regions at 26 per cent of households.
In Africa, it said, at least 550 million people do not have access to electricity.
“Without access to energy services, the poor are deprived of the most basic economic opportunities needed to improve their standards of living.
“Access to environmentally and socially sustainable energy is essential to reduce poverty.

Source: Peoples Daily