The Nigerian government decision to connect Chad to its national grid: How, Why and When

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 In the face of power generation falling from 3,776.5MW to 3,474.5MW in October and at least 11 power plants across the country remaining idle, Nigeria takes its next big step into electricity supply; The connection of neighboring country, Chad to the national grid. Now, I don't want to be the one to point out that we have a bad track record when it comes to international deals with our country being on the losing end sometimes (China...), but I decided to give this one a chance and check out why it was even worth considering and if it was is, in fact, possible to do. What I discovered might surprise you.


WHY?

This part was pretty easy because Chad kick-started it like any civilized person in need would - they asked. Beyond this though, we have to come to terms with the current circumstances of Chad electricity. According to USAID Power Africa, the country's biggest energy issues are lack of access to Financing, lack of creditworthiness of utilities, Insecurity, and poor governance (sound familiar?) 

In the face of such problems, the country had no choice in June this year but to turn to its ally and neighbor, the "Giant of Africa" (On the other hand, it's not like we could refuse to answer them after they helped us fight Boko haram this year).


HOW?

In my mind, I feel it's as simple as connecting a long cable from Chad to Nigeria and start running electricity through it but it's definitely more complicated than that. Analysis has to be carried out to see if the national grid can support the electricity load of another country. Alternatively, we could just disconnect one of the other countries we are already "dashing" electricity to because Togo, Benin, and the Niger Republic don't have a good record of paying their electricity bills to Nigeria on time. That being said, the grid is in a delicate situation but it has a tendency to pull through, occasionally.


WHEN?

And just like a person that has feelings for you but is scared to say anything, Nigeria is yet to give Chad a definitive answer. It's been at least two weeks since they made their new request and the house of representatives ad-hoc committee on power sector reform is "still on the matter". Hopefully, there'll be a positive outcome because, on a closer look, chad has a lot to offer.


Have any thoughts on the Nigeria-Chad arrangement? Let me know in the comment section.

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