More rural communities to get electricity

Nigeria's government has set aside $43 million for a rural electrification project, Europe Intelligence Wire reports. Under the scheme, electricity will be provided to areas not served by the state-owned National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). The report quoted the presidential adviser on utilities, Liyel Imoke, as saying the government’s rural power expansion plan was part of a newly inaugurated Poverty Alleviation Programme that attempts to stem the rural-urban drift by providing self-employment opportunities in rural communities. Most of Nigeria’s population, estimated at 113 million to 120 million, live in the countryside and are mainly subsistence farmers, while the greater part of electrical facilities are urban-based.