Following the handover of control of 14 power plants in September to buyers including Munich-based Siemens AG (SIE) and Forte Oil Plc by President Goodluck Jonathan to secure funding for the facilities and end daily blackouts in sub-Saharan Africa’s second biggest economy, Zenith Bank Plc has said it will increase loans to the country’s privatized power companies.

According to source, Chief Executive Officer Godwin Emefiele, said that  loans to the power sector may rise to 10 percent of the bank’s loan book by next year, up from 4.3 percent in the third quarter and 1.3 percent at the end of June “Opportunities in power opened up and we took advantage of it,” Emefiele said. “It is a very essential utility that we all need for our survival.”

Zenith Bank Plc, Nigeria’s second largest lender by assets’s value of loans to power companies was about 40 billion naira ($252 million) in the third quarter after the hand-overs, said Emefiele. Zenith Bank gave loans to companies including Eko Electricity Distribution Company and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company both in Lagos state, which is Nigeria’s most populated, with about 22 million people.

The CEO also stated that as the companies are reviewed and viable propositions are seen, the company is sure to expand loans to the industry, he said.

Zenith Bank declared that its nine-month net income rose 16 percent from a year earlier to 68.9 billion naira, with revenue advancing 12 percent. The lender expects “steady growth” next year, with total loans rising 15 to 20 percent, Emefiele said.