Buhari reaffirms Nigeria’s commitment to partnership with Germany, Siemens on electricity

President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday Nigeria remains committed to the partnership with Siemens and the German government on the improvement of power generation in the country.

The president, who stated this when he received officials of Siemens Energy AG at the State House, Abuja, urged the company to ensure that the government’s commitment to Nigerians on the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) was fulfilled.

The Siemens officials who were in the State House include the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Siemens Energy, Dr. Christian Bruch, the CEO of Siemens Africa, Nadia Haakansson, and the CEO of Siemens Nigeria, Mr. Seun Suleiman.

Buhari told the delegation that the outcome of the collaboration would deliver critical business enablers and opportunities to young Nigerians in various endeavours.

He also welcomed the training of 200 Nigerian engineers on network development studies under the PPI.

The president thanked the German government under the former Chancellor, Angela Merkel, for graciously supporting the country, leading to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Siemens.

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He also thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the German government’s continued support for the PPI.

President Buhari said: ”A plan to deliver capacity improvements of 2,000 Megawatts in the transmission-distribution interface is now firmly the focus of PPI Phase I.

“In April 2022, the Honourable Minister of Power briefed me on the outcome of his visit to Germany where he held meetings with Siemens executives.

“That visit was fruitful in emphasising the need to expedite delivery of the pilot PPI project, elements of which have started arriving in the country.

”The Honourable Minister also mentioned that you, Dr. Bruch, will pay a visit to Nigeria, and we are glad that you are with us today.

“The PPI remains a priority project for our administration and Nigerians believe in the value that the Siemens’ brand can deliver.

“On our part, nothing is spared to ensure we improve the lives and livelihoods of our citizens.”

He expressed delight at some notable progress on the implementation arrangements of the PPI, saying the first batch of two power transformers already delivered by Siemens would be inaugurated in November.

”I have been reliably assured that 10 Power Transformers and 10 Mobile Substations would have been completely delivered and installed by May 2023.

“This is in spite of production challenges and constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has severely impacted global production and supply chain,” he added.

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