Nigeria’s leaders have promised a stable power supply since the end of military rule in 1999, spending about $20 billion and dismantling the state National Electric Power Authority, better known as N.E.P.A. — and widely derided as “Never Expect Power Always.”
Yet the country’s power generating capacity has remained virtually unchanged, about six gigawatts for a country of 170 million. The United States, with 310 million people, has a capacity of more than 1,000 gigawatts.
“Most companies don’t have four hours of power a day from the national grid,” said Akpan Ekpo, the director general of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. “If they do, they’re lucky.”
Most of the $20 billion spent to overhaul the power sector is believed to have gone into the pockets of corrupt officials, Mr. Ekpo said.
“With the advent of democracy, we were promised constant power, or at least improved power,” he added. “But much to our surprise, things have only gotten worse. In some middle-class parts of Lagos, people are lucky if they now get 30 minutes of power a day.”