Nigeria, France finalise N11.15b loan for power training facilities

Come next month, Nigeria and France will put pen to paper to conclude ‎a €50m‎ loan to boost Nigeria’s power training facilities.

President Muhammadu Buhari and President of France are expected to seal the deal for this facility.

Director-General, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, Reuben Okeke, an Engineer, who made this revelation at NAPTIN Graduate Skills Development Programme graduation ceremony held in Abuja on Tuesday.

His words: “By next month, the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria and that of France will be signing a loan agreement to get NAPTIN completely transformed, up to a tune of €50m.”

Fund is expected to support NAPTIN and is considered a major effort to bridge the skills gap in Nigeria’s power equation.

“Mindful of the fact that the success of the recent power sector reform will in part depend on the availability of a qualified workforce to meet the needs of the industry and the corresponding need to structure its operations to reflect the needs of the private sector, NAPTIN is currently working with a leading international consulting outfit through funding support of the Agence Francaise de Developpement to evolve a new strategic plan,” he stressed.

He added: “This plan does not only encompasses the training needs of the new private entrants, but also their participation in the delivery process.

“Out of a total of 154 candidates that enrolled for the 2014/2015 batch, today, we are witnessing the graduation of a total of 142 engineers, comprising of 48 distribution engineers, 58 generation and 36 in the transmission cadre.”