Electricity consumers in Nigeria will be supplied with two months of free electricity during the coronavirus outbreak, reported Ripples Nigeria on Thursday.

The local publication said this announcement was made by the umbrella body of power distribution companies, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to ANED, they were in support of the proposal by the National Assembly and the Federal Executive arm of the government that Nigerians should get two months of free electricity, adding that modalities for the free power would be worked on and made public in due course.

“The electricity distribution companies recognise the challenging effects of the coronavirus on the economic and daily lives of our customers.

“In fulfilment of our commitments to the nation, we hereby align ourselves with the efforts of the National Assembly and the Federal Executive to mitigate the hardship that is currently being borne by our customers and other citizens all over the country.

“We are committed to working with them to ensure more efficient power supply within this difficult period, as the nation battles with the ravages of Covid-19.

“We are also completely aligned with the plans to ensure palliative measures, including free electricity supply to all Nigerians for two months, to make life easier during the lockdown period. Details of implementation to come soon," ANED's executive director Sunday Oduntan was quoted as saying.

In South Africa, Standard Bank has announced a 90-day loan repayment holiday for the country's small and medium-sized businesses in a bid to soften the economic impact of the coronavirus.

According to the bank's website, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Payment Scheme offers payment relief to its small-enterprise customers as a preventative measure to shield them from the economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The bank has also approved a payment holiday for students.

"For our students we have also approved a payment holiday from 1 April to 30 June for our student loan customers who are studying full time. This will be at 0% interest and with zero fees. This is an automatic offer and no applications are required," the bank said.