ABUJA, NIGERIA (October 20, 2008) – Increasing the reliability and accessibility of electricity in Nigeria is the goal of a USTDA grant awarded to the Office of the Governor of the State of Adamawa in northeastern Nigeria. The grant will fund an assessment of the viability of constructing a 35 megawatt hydroelectric power plant at the existing Kiri Dam site, located on the Gongola River in Adamawa State. The signing of the $467,000 grant agreement was announced on October 17, 2008, by U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Robin Renée Sanders and Governor Murtala Nyako of the State of Adamawa.

The State of Adamawa is committed to addressing its critical power needs. Currently, Adamawa relies on the national grid for its main source of power. The delivery of power via the national grid is fragile, however, and often leaves power recipients in the state’s capital city, Yola, and surrounding areas vulnerable to power outages. Diesel-fueled backup generators are used sporadically in Yola, but fuel supplies have become prohibitively expensive.

To address the need for locally produced power, a hydroelectric power plant has been proposed at the Kiri Dam site, and is one of the state’s highest priorities. The USTDA grant awarded will support this priority by analyzing the feasibility of building the proposed power plant. The study will cover the construction of the plant, the transmission line to the national grid, and an independent transmission line from the plant to Yola.

The opportunity to provide the USTDA-funded assistance to the State of Adamawa will be competed on the Federal Business Opportunities website at www.fbo.gov. Interested U.S. firms should submit proposals according to the instructions in the Federal Business Opportunities announcement. The State of Adamawa will select the U.S. contractor that will carry out the assistance.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, early investment analysis, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair, open trading environment. USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development. In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.

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