Worried by the acute financial crisis facing the new owners of recently privatized PHCN successor companies, the Federal Government may have thrown its weight behind a private sector funding initiative aimed at raising an estimated $36billion needed by generate and distribution companies to finance Nigeria’s 40,000mw of electricity.
To ensure the success of the initiative, the Federal Government’s team which include the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga and Central Bank Governor would be joining about 200 investors across the world to explore viable option for meeting critical funding needs of the power companies to enable them generate sufficient mega watts to meet the nation’s need.
Unfolding details of the impending international conference with the theme, “Nigeria, Time to deliver”, Managing Director of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Mrs. Sola Borha, explained that the project was intended to increase the inflow of foreign direct investments into the economy.
She stated that Stanbic IBTC Bank was spearheading the conference to demonstrate that government’s privatization scheme has attained a critical milestone and is at a point where stakeholders need to know where they are coming and where they have reached.
Borha argued that the conference would also provide stakeholders with the platform to support the power sector reform which she described as capital intensive and too technical to be handled by new owners alone. She expressed optimism that Nigeria’s economy would continue to be up beat, stressing that foreign investors have remained resolute in associating Nigeria as Africa’s investment destination of choice.
The IBTC’s boss’ confidence was bolstered by the over N3 trillion assets of foreign investors under management which were not depleted despite the challenges of the economy.
The investment conference which kicks off on February 3, comes at a time of growing anxiety and concerns over depletion of the country’s fiscal buffers by government.
Over the past three decade, Nigeria’s power generating capacity has hovered around 4000 megawatts while she actually need is about 40000 to meet demands of homes and industrial customers.
Only last year, Nigeria’s power sector reform programme received a boost when the World Bank at the end of its 2013 annual meetings in Washington DC, the United States, agreed to support Federal Government’s efforts at achieving stable electricity supply with an approval of $1.4billion in credit and guarantees.
Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, said the bank approved a total of $700million in guarantees to boost the private sector investments in the sector and an additional $700million in guarantees to support the transmission component where a huge capital outlay would be needed over the next few years.
She said the World Bank facility was an endorsement of government’s power reforms initiative by the Britton Woods Institutions. According to Okonjo- Iweala, the World Bank’s objective for granting additional funds to the power sector was to mitigate Nigeria’s private sector financing efforts in the unbundled power companies and to create fresh stimulus for financing transmission projects, where an estimated $2billion would be required to generate sufficient megawatts to meet the nation’s energy needs in the short to medium term.
http://ift.tt/1jx5gX7
To ensure the success of the initiative, the Federal Government’s team which include the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga and Central Bank Governor would be joining about 200 investors across the world to explore viable option for meeting critical funding needs of the power companies to enable them generate sufficient mega watts to meet the nation’s need.
Unfolding details of the impending international conference with the theme, “Nigeria, Time to deliver”, Managing Director of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Mrs. Sola Borha, explained that the project was intended to increase the inflow of foreign direct investments into the economy.
She stated that Stanbic IBTC Bank was spearheading the conference to demonstrate that government’s privatization scheme has attained a critical milestone and is at a point where stakeholders need to know where they are coming and where they have reached.
Borha argued that the conference would also provide stakeholders with the platform to support the power sector reform which she described as capital intensive and too technical to be handled by new owners alone. She expressed optimism that Nigeria’s economy would continue to be up beat, stressing that foreign investors have remained resolute in associating Nigeria as Africa’s investment destination of choice.
The IBTC’s boss’ confidence was bolstered by the over N3 trillion assets of foreign investors under management which were not depleted despite the challenges of the economy.
The investment conference which kicks off on February 3, comes at a time of growing anxiety and concerns over depletion of the country’s fiscal buffers by government.
Over the past three decade, Nigeria’s power generating capacity has hovered around 4000 megawatts while she actually need is about 40000 to meet demands of homes and industrial customers.
Only last year, Nigeria’s power sector reform programme received a boost when the World Bank at the end of its 2013 annual meetings in Washington DC, the United States, agreed to support Federal Government’s efforts at achieving stable electricity supply with an approval of $1.4billion in credit and guarantees.
Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, said the bank approved a total of $700million in guarantees to boost the private sector investments in the sector and an additional $700million in guarantees to support the transmission component where a huge capital outlay would be needed over the next few years.
She said the World Bank facility was an endorsement of government’s power reforms initiative by the Britton Woods Institutions. According to Okonjo- Iweala, the World Bank’s objective for granting additional funds to the power sector was to mitigate Nigeria’s private sector financing efforts in the unbundled power companies and to create fresh stimulus for financing transmission projects, where an estimated $2billion would be required to generate sufficient megawatts to meet the nation’s energy needs in the short to medium term.
http://ift.tt/1jx5gX7
No comments:
Post a Comment