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Nigeria is facing a severe energy crisis. There has been no electricity in the country since Monday March 14, 2022. The authorities refer to insufficient production.
Over 80% of the Nigerian national grid is powered by natural gas. A resource whose prices have risen sharply since the Ukrainian crisis. At least a dozen power stations failed or have produced a limited amount of current.
Since 2014 and the privatization of Nigeria’s energy system, the country has faced regular shortages of gas for power plants because it is more profitable for gas producers to export it. Some observers also mention acts of vandalism on power plants inside the country.
In a letter published in the Nigerian media, President Muhammadu Buhari apologizes to his fellow citizens and promises to resolve the crisis in the coming days. If 40% of the population already does not have access to electricity, the rest of the country now works with generators powered by oil.
Depending on world prices
This will cause a second problem since the price of gasoline has also jumped due to the Ukrainian crisis. However, Nigeria produces an enormous amount of oil, but since it does not have the technical means to refine it, it is therefore obliged to import the majority of its fuel and to submit to world market prices.
Several witnesses, in particular traders contacted by RFI, say that this increase in fuel prices is felt in all sectors of daily life. ” It’s a domino effect “says a hairdresser from Lagos. Some are wondering how to pass on this increase to selling prices and if this is even possible, as people are strangled economically.