The D-8 countries on Wednesday pledged their support for the power sector reforms in Nigeria.

Henrietta Ighomorore, spokesman for the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. (NBET), said this in a statement in Abuja. 

Ms Ighomorore quoted Isiaka Imam, the secretary-general of the D-8 countries’ Organisation for Economic Cooperation, as making the pledge when he visited the management of NBET.

She said the D-8, also known as Developing-8, is an organisation for development cooperation.

The D-8 countries are Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

According to her, some member states of the D-8 have successfully implemented reforms in their respective electricity and energy sectors. Turkey, Egypt and Iran have a combined installed electricity capacity of over 240,000MW.

Mr Imam assured NBET management of the commitment of the D-8 to provide support and all necessary assistance toward facilitating collaboration among the D-8 countries for sustainable development and growth.

He commended the managing director of NBET for his commitment and resilience in managing the financial transactions and contract administration in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

According to him, both parties are optimistic about the opportunities in the Nigerian power sector and pledged to collaborate for sustainable development of the sector.

”Nigeria can leverage on the learning experience from these countries to develop its electricity market,” he said.

NBET managing director Nnaemeka Ewelukwa acknowledged the cooperation between both organisations and D-8’s support in facilitating collaboration among member countries, especially in energy development and economic growth.

Mr Ewelukwa added that leveraging NBET’s recent memorandum of understanding with the Energy Exchange of Istanbul (EXIST), it was set to implement a series of actions toward a quick turnaround of improvements in NESI.

(NAN)