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Benin Disco secures US Agency grant

By on June 19, 2014

Benin Electricity Distribution Plc (BEDC) has recorded a major milestone as the first distribution company to benefit from a grant funding by United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, had earlier hinted that the global lenders were beginning to evade investment in Nigeria’s power sector due to fears that the electricity tariff order in operations in Nigeria could not guarantee good return on investments for the new owners.

He maintained that the situation on ground at the power industry made efforts to make the electricity tariff competitive necessary.

The BEDC however, overcame these challenges by securing grants funding from USTDA.

The company, which said this in a statement, maintained that its core investor consortium Vigeo Power Limited (VPL), with the assistance of Citi Asset Management Limited (CAML), initiated this process in order to ensure that strategic investments initiatives to be taken by BEDC, will be based on adequate research and planning.

The Minister of Power, Minister of Trade and Commence, Ambassador to United States, Deputy Ambassador to United States, Director of USTDA and USTDA Country Manager West Africa witnessed the event.

The grant funding is offered for the purpose of Technical Assistance (TA) to update and modernise the electricity distribution network for BEDC in Nigeria.

The BEDC team present at the signing, which took place at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos on Thursday May 22nd, 2014 at 4pm,  was led by the Executive Director Abu Ejoor.

Others included Major Bhaskhar, the Chief Technical Officer, Lucky Ayemoto, the Legal Counsel and Gbenga Ade Sonuga, the Chief Operations Officer, CAML.

 

 

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