Page 5 - AfrElec Week 33 2022

AfrElec POLICY AfrElec

Nigerian power companies

owe $2bn to banks

NIGERIA NIGERIAN power generation and distribution profit, according to The Punch. In July, the Fed-
companies banks NGN836.09bn ($2bn), local eral Government revealed that it had taken back
daily The Punch reports. control over five electricity distribution com-
According to the publication, which obtained panies over debts owed to Fidelity Bank. The
the Central Bank of Nigeria’s June 2022 data, companies had failed to pay for loans taken out
power generation firms and independent power during 2013 privatisation.
producers (IPPs) owe banks NGN562.19bn The low per-capita megawatt production in
($1.25bn), while power transmission and dis- Nigeria means there is a significant opportunity
tribution firms owe NGN273.89bn ($0.65bn). for growth and profit for companies that opt to
The Nigerian banking sector has been in enter the sector. In June, the World Bank esti-
turmoil since it was privatised in 2013, making mated that Nigeria needs around $100bn in the
$3.2bn for the Federal Government. Ever since, next 10 years to tackle the country’s unreliable
Nigerian companies have struggled to relia- power supply.
bly provide power to the nation, Africa’s most In 2021, Abuja revealed that it would struc-
populous. ture and privatise more of its power sector,
Many companies that took over government including the country’s National Integrated
power facilities have also struggled to turn a Power Projects (NIPPs).™

Week 33 18•August•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P5