Tegbe secures Chinese commitment to Nigeria’s power sector

THE Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has concluded a series of high-level engagements with China’s leading power engineering firms and financial institutions, securing commitments to accelerate delivery of Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) projects and to broaden Chinese participation across the full value chain of Nigeria’s electricity sector, from generation and transmission to project financing and industrial manufacturing.

The engagements, held in Beijing as part of the ongoing Nigeria–China power sector mission, were designed around a single test: whether each partnership can be converted into a bankable project, a financed investment and completed infrastructure that Nigerians can measure in megawatts delivered, kilometres of line energised and hours of reliable supply.

At a strategic meeting with Sinomach Group and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), two of the largest contractors in Nigeria’s generation and transmission programme, the Minister pressed for firm, accelerated completion schedules on all ongoing PPI projects and for a shift from conventional engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts to a full-scope partnership.

Under the expanded model proposed by the Minister, Chinese partners would move beyond building assets to co-investing in them: bringing capital, technology and technical expertise to generation, transmission, hydropower and associated industrial investment.

Building on CMEC’s established footprint in Nigeria, the Minister set out the Ministry’s expectations that this partnership should deliver faster project completion, additional wheeling capacity and blended financing structures.

The Minister also visited China National Electric Engineering Corporation (CNEEC) to advance EPC cooperation on Nigeria’s transmission network, the segment of the value chain where bottlenecks most directly translate into load-shedding for homes and industry.

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Giving practical expression to the Ministry’s commitment to transmission expansion, the delegation witnessed a factory acceptance test for high-voltage cables and related transmission materials at Hengfei Cable’s Changsha Industrial Park.

The test confirms that equipment destined for Nigerian transmission projects meets the required technical standards before shipment, a step that shortens installation timelines and reduces the risk of delays once materials arrive in-country.

Recognising that reliable electricity is only valuable when it powers productive activity, the Minister invited Chinese corporations to invest in strategic sectors that are both major consumers of power and drivers of economic growth: steel, automotive manufacturing, digital infrastructure and data centres, cold-chain logistics and sugar processing.

He proposed a structured Nigeria–China industrial cooperation platform to originate, screen and develop bankable projects aligned with Nigeria’s industrialisation priorities, ensuring that new generation and transmission capacity is matched by anchor industrial demand, creating jobs and improving the commercial viability of the power sector itself.

The engagements reinforce the Ministry’s strategy of leveraging international partnerships to mobilise capital, expand infrastructure, increase system capacity and improve electricity reliability, while creating new opportunities for industrial investment.