The Nigerian Senate Committee on Local Content, on Monday, received official report of the Finance Sub-committee of Mambilla Hydro Electric Power Projects.
Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Teslim Folarin (Oyo Central) in his remarks during the official presentation of the report, expressed optimism that the document would provide a way forward on the project.
He highlighted the terms of reference of the Sub-Committee to include modalities that would facilitate the financial requirement of the local content aspect of the project, which is estimated at N1.7 Billion, representing 8% of the approved contraction of $5.7 USD.
“The Nigerian export and Import Bank NEXIM was mandated to play the lead role in the Sub-Committee, while the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) was to serve as the Secretariat of the Sub-Committee”.
“I have no doubt in my mind that all the aforementioned issues, among others, are succinctly addressed in the report” he said.
Mambilla hydropower project is a 3.05GW hydroelectric facility being developed on the Dongo River near Baruf, in Kakara Village of Taraba State, Nigeria.
The project was awarded to Chinese contractors JV (CGGC-SHC-CGCC) and being supervised by Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Power, Construction and Housing.
Expected to commence operation in 2030, Mambilla will be Nigeria’s biggest power plant, producing approximately 4.7 billion kWh of electricity a year.
The project is estimated to cost $5.8bn and will generate up to 50,000 local jobs during the construction phase.
Folarin recalled how the Federal Executive Council on 30th August, 2017, approved the contract on the Mambila Hydro Electric Power Project.
According to the three-term senator, “Due to challenges that emanated thereafter in the course of the execution of the project, the Presidential Committee on North-East Development (PCNEDC), reviewed the initial plan of the Technical Working Group and came up with a working document, wherein the work of the TWG was reshaped and streamlined for effective and seamless implementation of the project”,
“Thereafter, the reviewed report was forwarded to the National Assembly for further legislative action”.
“Consequently, the National Assembly along with the Technical Working Group, constituted the Finance Sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of the Executive Director, NEXIM Bank. The Sub-Committee was inaugurated earlier this year by the Senate Committee on Local Content and it was mandated to report back to the Committee within six (6) weeks” he concluded.
