After tariffs for major consumers in Africa's most populous nation last month increased, Nigeria secured a $500 million World Bank loan for its electricity sector from the World Bank to boost energy distribution.

The concessional loan obtained by Nigeria from the World Bank aims to improve the financial and technical performance of distribution companies, which have struggled to increase their capacity more than a decade after Nigeria handed over its electricity sector to private companies. Last month, the electricity regulator raised rates for the most affluent consumers, who consume the most electricity in Nigeria, as the government seeks to wean the economy off subsidies in order to ease pressure on public finances. Nigeria's electricity sector is facing a myriad of problems, including a broken grid, gas shortages, high debt, and acts of