Data obtained from a power sector reveals that more than 40% of households in Nigeria own and use generators for their daily electricity requirements.
The data further revealed that the impacted households spend about $14bn annually to fuel their generators due to insufficient power supply from the National grid.
In the report titled “Nigeria’s state of power: Electrifying the nation’s Economy”, it reveals that the exorbitant amount spent by these households on fueling their generators, negatively impacted their expenses which also hindered their business growth.
The report reads, “Nigerian households, on average, have electricity in their homes for 15 to 18 hours each day. Of that 44 percent (or 6.8 hours) is self-supplied by generators. And this differs by geography. In a state like Taraba, only 19 percent of households report having electricity.
Over 40 percent of Nigerian households own generators and bear the associated costs. First, the cost of purchasing generators – an estimated $500m between 2015 and 2019, is higher than the proposed capital expenditure in Nigeria’s 2022 budget.
There is also the cost of powering these generators. Sources and estimates vary widely, but the African Development Bank (AFDB) estimated that Nigerians spend $14bn fuelling petrol or diesel-powered generators.”
It is disheartening that a country presumed to be the “giant of Africa”, still battles with the issue of lack of electricity supply, having one of the lowest electrification rates in the world.
Meanwhile, its neighbor Ghana, with an economy not as big as that of Nigeria has celebrated more than 10 years of uninterrupted power supply. 43% of people in Nigeria have no access to electricity, which means that about 85 million Nigerians are not connected and cannot receive electricity from the Nigerian transmission grid.
The economic losses associated with Nigeria’s energy crisis are estimated at $26bn as of 2022. This epileptic power supply in the country is constantly affecting businesses and the nation’s economy, as the world bank disclosed that poor electricity in the country cost businesses about $29 billion yearly.
Nigeria’s shortage of reliable electricity supply is no doubt a major constraint on the country’s economic growth. Commercial, industrial, and even small businesses have become heavily reliant on self-generated power which stifles their growth to expand.
More than half of the profits made from these businesses go into the purchase of diesel or petrol to power their generators. Asides from the economic impact of poor electricity supply in the country, unreliable power supply comes with environmental implications too.
The continuous use of fossil fuel-powered generators constitutes a major threat to the country’s climate change. In developed and saner climes, diesel or petrol generators are mostly used as a backup during power outages which is very rare, unlike in Nigeria where the daily use of these generators is already a norm.
The over-reliance on the use of generators by a large percentage of citizens exposes cities and communities to harmful emissions of greenhouse gases. Air Pollution induced by the incessant use of these generators has worsened in Nigeria and the citizens continue to remain exposed to air pollution levels that exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
The use of these generators has led to countless numbers of deaths that occurred as a result of inhaling generator fumes which would have been avoided if only there was a constant supply of electricity.
Between 2008 and 2014, records put the number of death from generator fume inhalation at no fewer than 10,000. Looking at all the negative impacts of unreliable supply of electricity on business, the economy, and the environment, it’s high time the Nigerian government fixes up these things because it is causing more harm than good.
