The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to seek $10 billion in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) investments in the power sector over the next 5-10 years to achieve a 24-hour power supply.
Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu, who disclosed this information during a courtesy visit with Dr. Jobson Ewalefoh, Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), emphasized that the government alone cannot afford this substantial investment, given the funding needs of other critical sectors.
In the statement released by Mr Ifeanyi Nwoko, Acting Head of Media and Publicity, ICRC, Adelabu said that the government alone could not afford the 10 billion dollars when other critical sectors needed funding.
“Government cannot do it alone this is why we have to look for organised private sector funding, while still retaining government interest and ownership.
“That is where ICRC comes in. We need to do this in collaboration with the private sector and the best way is through concession,’’ he said
Earlier, Ewalefoh said it had become imperative to seek private sector input through Public-Private Partnerships to improve the power sector.
He said that given power’s importance to the nation’s economic development, optimizing the performance of existing infrastructure and funding new ones was imperative.
The ICRC boss said that the challenges in the sector were many and had gone beyond funding by the Federal Government alone.
According to him, the limitations could be addressed with inter-agency collaboration and partnership with the private sector.
The DG said that the ICRC could facilitate private sector investment through its regulatory processes to raise part of the $10 billion needed to provide regular electricity in the sector.
He added that the ICRC could also attract more foreign direct investment to other sectors and ultimately grow the economy.
“Revamping the power sector requires planning, it involves investments and it takes time. So, we need to collaborate to solve the issues in this sector.
“The investment required in the power sector is very huge and government cannot fund it alone, so we have to leverage on the financing capacity of the private sector.
”That is why the ICRC was set up to regulate this leverage,” he said.
Ewalefoh commended the minister for his vast knowledge of the sector, noting that President Bola Tinubu ‘s decision on his choice was commendable.
He recalled that in a bid to accelerate PPP investment as directed by the President, the commission issued a 6-point policy direction which streamlined the process of PPP service delivery.
The DG said that the commission was not relenting or compromising on its stringent regulatory function to forestall contingent liabilities or unnecessary delays by companies that lacked the requisite capacity. (NAN)
