Nigeria Content Online

Minister of State
for Power, Nuhu Wya, said yesterday that the federal government will
soon come up with a comprehensive blueprint on the development of our
nation’s power sector.

Though the minister
did not disclose when the stakeholders meeting is scheduled to hold, he
said the presidential committee on power meeting held last Monday in
Abuja reviewed and fine-tuned the content of the document expected to
be unfolded any moment from now, by the Acting President, Goodluck
Jonathan.

“Power (supply) is
a national issue. That is why the federal government wants all
stakeholders that have been identified to come together to contribute
ideas and agree on the blueprint being worked out for the sector. Once
the stakeholders have agreed on the blueprint, government will unveil
it to Nigerians soon,” he said.

Earlier, while
declaring open the seventh annual conference of the African Forum for
Utility Regulators (AFUR), the minister had called for the
consolidation of policy reforms in key sectors of the nation’s economy,
including power, telecommunications and transportation, saying
attaining sustained economic growth will remain elusive without it.

Noting that policy
reforms in themselves do not necessarily translate into automatic
improvements in sector development and economic growth, the minister
underscored the role of “a robust, efficient and effective regulatory
framework”.

Global economy and poverty reduction

Drawing a link
between global economic growth rate and poverty reduction, the minister
told participants at the conference that the level attained by most
African nations is still incapable of significant impact, blaming the
continent’s underdevelopment over the last two decades on inappropriate
domestic policy regimes in most countries.

“Based on this
view,” he argued, “the common denominator is centred on economic policy
reforms aimed at removing impediments to infrastructure development to
boost economic development. It is evident that economic growth and
performances have been better in countries that have undertaken and
sustained a reasonable measure of reforms in the key sectors of their
economy.”

Identifying the
major challenge Nigeria is facing as acute imbalance between
electricity supply and demand, the minister emphasized the need to
tackle the multifaceted problems of the country’s power sector in a
pragmatic manner, if sustainable, adequate and reliable electricity
supply is to be attained.

He said it was the
priority attached to the problem that informed the decision by the
Goodluck Jonathan administration to undertake several initiatives aimed
at redressing the problem within the shortest possible time, adding
that deregulation has been identified as the most viable option to
guarantee progress in the sector.

“This
administration is poised to pursue the sector reforms in line with the
provisions in the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act, 2005. The
overwhelming objective of the electric power policy statement on total
liberalization, competition and private sector-led growth is to ensure
that Nigeria has an Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) that can meet the
needs of its citizens in the 21st century,” he said.

Removing investment barriers

Noting the crucial
role of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in
removing all barriers to investment and creating the enabling
environment for investors, the minister urged the regulatory body to
ensure that the tariff regime in the country is cost-reflective as well
as provide the necessary regulatory frameworks for feed-in tariff for
renewable power and distributed power generation alternatives.

The NERC
Administrator, Imamuddeen Talba, said the AFUR is a voluntary
organization of African Utility Regulators established in November 2002
through the instrumentation of clause 10 of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development framework document for the promotion of principles
and approaches to the regulation of the utility infrastructure in the
continent.

Mr. Talba said the current strategic focus of the commission is to
encourage private sector participation through effective regulation,
pointing out that part of the initiative to help realize its objective
has been the approval of the multi-year tariff order (MYTO), currently
being reviewed for the sector, development of a regulatory framework
for distributed/embedded generation and independent electricity
distribution networks, as well as for renewable energy.