Nigeria Content Online

The Federal
Government will require a minimum of $10 billion (about N1.5trillion)
in annual investment in power generation, transmission and distribution
infrastructure if it is to guarantee stable electricity supply in the
country.

Special Adviser to
the President on Power, Barth Nnaji, who stated this at the weekend as
guest in a national television programme monitored in Abuja, said the
insistence for private sector partnership in the development of the
nation’s power sector is based on the point that government alone
cannot handle the responsibility.

“At least $5billion
is required every year to take care of infrastructure for power
generation, while additional $5billion is needed to deal with
distribution and transmission facilities. The government just cannot
afford it. It is far beyond what government can invest in all sectors.

“There is need for
both foreign and local investors to come in so that the system can
become more robust and for the nation to get away from talking about
3,500 mega watts (MW) to the quantum of power that other developing and
advanced countries have. That is when the country can begin to talk
about stimulation of the economy,” he said.

Mr. Nnaji said, for
the first time steps have been taken to remove the bottlenecks that
have always frustrated efforts by previous administrations to
permanently address the problem, pointing out that apart from the
Electricity Sector Reform Act (EPSRA), passed to provide the legal
framework for effective operations, government has also established a
holistic plan that connects players from wholesale generation and
distribution, to how consumers would benefit under the new regime.

“This is the first
time that government would march implementation with plans, by way of
implementation of the Act, and actually taking steps to begin to
actualize most of the plans that have been on the drawing board since
the early 1980s”, citing the issue of construction of hydro stations,
like the Mambilla power Station, which has been since 1982, adding that
for the first time government has moved towards actual implementation.

Too big for government

In spite of the
efforts, the presidential adviser, who is also the Chairman, Geometric
Power Limited, which is handling the construction of an Independent
Power Plant (IPP) in Aba, Abia State, said government has since
realized it cannot solve the problem alone.

“The private sector
must step in and take responsibility in providing electricity in the
country,” he said, adding “that is why the president is saying that
from next year generation and distribution will go into private hands
as a way of reducing all kinds of issues that are in the system,
including the corruption.

Asked if the
private sector would not be overwhelmed by the high level of
corruption, which has rendered their involvement in other sectors
unsuccessful, Mr. Nnaji said: “Private sector cannot corrupt itself. If
one invests money, one cannot steal from oneself. It is just the bottom
line. It is only when people are looking at government as another
establishment that that can happen. Private sector would drive
efficiency and sustainability and ensures that there is actual
investment, so that the Federal Government does not continue to be the
only one to invest.”

“We are beginning
to have more stable supply of power, though there are some areas with
transformer challenges. This modest improvement will continue until the
country reaches adequacy of supply.

Over the coming months, consumers are going to witness this improvement.”

Ready private sector

An Infrastructure
Specialist, Oliver Andrew, who also appeared as guest on the programme,
said there is a credible government plan in place to address the
challenge of infrastructure in the power value chain under the road map
launched recently by the government.

He identified the
plan to include issues of facilities to take care of fuel supply to the
power generation plants; strategy for power evacuation; liberalization
of the gas sector under the National Gas Master Plan (NGMP);
involvement of independent power distribution companies to handle the
distribution of the power generated to the consumers in line with the
dictates of the market forces.

According to Mr.
Andrew, the private sector is now ready to come in with the
infrastructure needed to get the sector running having seen that
government has plugged the gaps, pointing out the N500 billion
Infrastructure Intervention Fund by the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN)
for the provision of more capital for infrastructural development will
help attract more foreign direct investment (FID) to facilitate the
needed short term impact.