adsThe federal government and the World Bank agreed to cancel $717.7 million in undisbursed financing under the Power Sector Recovery Performance-Based Operation, a program the lender had built over five years and more than a billion dollars to rescue one of Africa’s most dysfunctional electricity markets.
The World Bank agreed on March 26, 2026. The program’s closing date, originally set for June 2027, was pulled forward to May 31, 2026, more than a year early, and with most of its ambitions unmet.
It is a significant defeat for a country that generates roughly a fifth of the power its economy needs and where blackouts remain so routine that diesel generators are a standard fixture in offices, hospitals, and middle-class homes.
It is also a cautionary tale about the limits of multilateral lending when a government lacks either the political will or the fiscal breathing room to absorb the pain of reform.
“Due to the mismatch between electricity generation costs and sector tariff revenues, the tariff shortfalls increased sharply in the last three years,” the World Bank said in its restructuring paper.adsads
