The Nigerian government needs help from the private sector to meet the nation’s infrastructure needs for energy.

Nigeria needs $900 billion (R9.8 trillion) to fix its energy sector.  In order to add 5 000 megawatts to the grid over the next few years, $10 billion (R109 billion) is needed for power generation and distribution. A further $1.5 billion (R16.4 billion) investment is needed annually for the next five years to ensure the nation’s transmission grid is reliable and stabile.

“Under our national infrastructure master plan, substantial amounts are required for infrastructural development efforts in the next 30 years covering 2014 to 2045,” Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said while declaring the Nigeria Power Financing conference open.

He said that a significant percentage of the funding was expected to come from the private sector because the government could not fund Nigeria’s infrastructure needs alone.