German Chancellor, Angela Merkel has explained why Siemens electricity deal with Nigeria is yet to take off after being questioned by Chiamanda Adichie.
Speaking an at event in Germany, Adichie noted that in 2019, it was announced that the Nigerian government had signed a memorandum of understanding with Siemens and it had the full backing of Chancellor Merkel
The celebrated novelist also pointed out that Siemens’ “miraculous works” in various countries were listed at the time and it was said that Nigeria’s power will be grown in stages. According to Adichie, two years after, the electricity issue which is the bane of Nigeria’s problem hasn’t been fixed.
Responding to this, Chancellor Merkel outlined some of the reasons. The German leader stated that part of the issue had to do with funding and they are being careful as they’ve made a mistake of not questioning how a project will be financed in the past.
She also revealed that demand of too much local content by the country where the investment is going to, affects the project. According to her, if such was agreed to, a failure might be recorded in regards to solar panels or gas power plants, and the investor will go back to zero.
Merkel noted that there are no industrial base in the country to demand for 40-50% local content for such a project.
When she asked where the project was supposed to be sited, Chiamanda Adichie answered by saying that the location was not disclosed but it was agreed that the megawatts will be grown in stages.