Power Africa Adds 30,000 New Solar Connections In Nigeria

In a statement by U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, the U.S energy project known as “Power Africa’’ has added 30,000 new solar connections in Nigeria.

U.S. through its Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) had in 2016 signed an agreement with Lumos, an off-grid electricity provider to enhance provision of solar electricity to homes and small businesses throughout Nigeria.

Lumos was also a recipient of catalytic funding through OPIC and the Africa Clean Energy Finance initiative, a partner with the U.S. State Department.

The funding provided crucial start-up capital for 30 innovative clean energy projects across 10 African countries.

Simulation Solutions Inc. Launches Innovative Solution For Nigerian Petrochemical Industry

The US Commercial Service Nigeria held a Single Company Promotion event in Lagos with the launching of a new training simulation solution by New Jersey, USA-based Simulation Solutions, Inc., aimed at strengthening the skills of process operators working in Nigeria’s refinery and chemical industry.

Simulation Solutions

Don Glaser, President of Simulation Solutions, Inc., and Matthew Garvey, Project Engineer, showcased the Simulation Solution’s patented training programs, which combine collaborative classroom techniques with innovative simulator exercises to achieve a “Hands-On/Minds-On” work ethic among students.

Over 60 representatives from across Nigeria’s petrochemical sector, including officers from Nigeria’s national oil company, regulatory agencies and parastatals, as well professionals drawn from private refineries, training institutes and academia, learned how companies can effectively operate their plants without accidents and downtimes, saving costs and improving profitability. US Commercial Service Counsellor Brent Omdahl anchored the event.

Simulation Solutions is a leading provider of PC-based dynamic simulation training programs for process operators in the refinery and chemical industries, as well as for government and academia. The company’s INSTO™ 5-Step Process Technology Operator Training for professionals has been used by downstream oil firms all over the world to improve significantly plant efficiencies.

The Foreign Commercial Service of the U.S. government works to promote the expansion of U.S. trade and investment to Nigeria through support of business partnerships between American and Nigerian companies.

NSIA Partners GuarantCo To Establish A Credit Enhancement Facility Company

The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) is partnering with GuarantCo to set up a Credit Enhancement Facility Company that will enable pension funds to invest in Nigerian Infrastructure bonds. The new company will serve as a facility to help provide credit enhancements for infrastructure projects in Nigeria.

NSIA

The new venture will provide a form of monoline insurance, giving a guarantee and allowing pension funds and insurance companies to invest.

The company is expected to be launched in a few weeks’ time and it aims to boost the financing of infrastructure projects in Nigeria.

GuarantCo is a London-based development financing institution supports infrastructure related projects in low-income African, Middle East, and Asian countries by issuing guarantees in local and international currencies to banks and bond investors. It specialises in frontier market infrastructure. The governments of Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom are sponsors of GuarantCo. The company is rated AA- by Fitch and A1 by Moody’s.

Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) is the Nigerian investment institution that manages the Nigeria sovereign wealth fund. The sovereign wealth fund was established in 2011 for the purpose of managing and investing the funds obtained from the surplus of the excess oil reserves on behalf of the government of Nigeria.