President @MBuhari has directed the Ministries of @PowerMinNigeria and @FinMinNigeria, and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to conclude the engagement with Siemens AG to commence the pre-engineering & concessionary financing aspects of the Presidential Power Initiative.

The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) is a power infrastructure upgrade and modernization Programme agreed to by @NigeriaGov and Siemens AG of Germany, with the support of the German Government.

Under the PPI, @NigeriaGov will on behalf of the other shareholders in the Electricity Distribution Cos. invest in infrastructure upgrades in the form of improved payment systems, distribution substations, transformers, protection devices, smart meters, transmission lines, etc.

All DisCos have, directly, and through the BPE, been diligently carried along over the last 15 months to understand in detail the challenges in the electricity systems.

All items to be purchased were provided by the DisCos and Transmission Company of Nigeria @TCN_NIGERIA and they will be vetted by a professional Project Management Office.

The funding for the PPI will be secured under concessionary terms (up to 3-year moratorium and 12-year repayment at concessionary interest rates) through the German Euler Hermes cover, which @NigeriaGov will on-lend as a convertible loan to the other shareholders in the DisCos.

President @MBuhari has approved the release of funding for the first part of Phase 1 of the PPI, to kick-off the pre-engineering and concession financing workstreams.