What Nigerians should expect from new power investors

 

Successful privatisation of the power sector has raised the hope of Nigerians on improved power supply in the country. TUNDE DODONDAWA examines what should be expected from the new investors in the next six months in view of the existing reality on ground. Excerpts:

The scepticism and uncertainty surrounding the privatisation of the power sector, which commenced officially in 2005 following the enactment of Electricity Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act 2005, was laid to rest on November 1, 2013, when the Federal Government, after decades of failed attempts to fix the sector, finally completed its sale and handed the successor companies over to the private investors.

Prior to that date, the Federal Government had invested several billions of dollars in the sector but it hardly generated up to 5,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity for a population of 160 million.

Besides, the transmission network is so weak that it is incapable of conveying more than 4,000MW, hence the frequent system collapse, which results in massive power failure across the country.

Expectations by Nigerians
Ordinarily, the private sector is seen as a better manager of resources than the government, hence, the takeover of the power sector by the private sector is seen as a big relief and Nigerians are full of expectations that power will improve significantly.

Ironically, the taking over of the power sector was marred by frequent power outage in most part of the country.  

Although, the Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), Mr Benjamin Dikki, assured Nigerians that improvement in power supply would only be felt after six months of handing over because of the huge investment required and the fact that the spare parts needed to replace some old and dilapidated equipment will have to be imported over a period of four to five months.

 

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