$10bn Needed to Boost Power Supply -- BPE
From Cletus Akwaya in Abuja
The National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) requires between $5 billion and $10 billion to raise power generation from the current level of 4000mw to 10,000 mw, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has said.
Also, Africa requires $15b annually to develop various kinds of infrastructure to support economic activities.
Director General of BPE, Dr. Julius Bala, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja said the capital outlay required to generate power to meet the rising demand, was too enormous for the Federal Government to wholly finance, adding that the reform of the power sector was needed to attract finances from private investors.
Bala spoke through Dr. Lanre Babalola at the opening of the International Conference on Infrastructure Development organised by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) under the theme 'PPP and Infrastructure Development.'
The BPE said though privatisation of NEPA was on the cards, it was not a solution to the power problems of the country as the transfer of the existing 4000 mw to the private sector without additional investment would not improve the existing situation.
He said to achieve an effective public private partnership (PPP) a holistic reform was inevitable to remove bottlenecks, formulate clear policies and ensure proper deregulation of the sector.
In this regard, he said the electric sector reform bill pending before the National Assembly was key to any meaningful reforms. He expressed hope that the bill would be passed in the next two or three months to enable the reform process take off in earnest.
Quoting a World Bank report, Bala disclosed that Africa requires about $15 billion annually to successfully finance her infrastructure needs out of which he said the bank only provides $1billion annually in credit facilities to Africa for the purpose.
He said with most African countries being unable to finance infrastructure, it was necessary to attract funding from the private sector hence the need for public private partnership.
Chairman, Senate Committee on National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said the National Assembly should be blamed for the delay in the passage of the power sector reform bill as the bill had been passed last year but was returned by the president due to disagreements over some clauses.
He said some members of the National Assembly were yet to be convinced on the need to allow the private sector drive the economy because some Nigerian were still not convinced that privatisation was a better alternative to reforming public enterprises.
These tendencies, he argued, tended to influence the National Assembly members who as politicians have to listen to the views of their constituents.
Udoma, however, favoured the privatisation of high ways through the build and operate model in which the financiers collect tolls to recoup investments, as was the case in South Africa and the United Kingdom among other countries. "We need success stories to build confidence and integrity locally," he said.
Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, who delivered the keynote address said the Federal Government capital budget of N350 billion was grossly inadequate to cater for the development of infrastructures such as roads, railways, refineries, seaports, airports, canals, dams, water supply, irrigation, steel plants, power plants, satellite plants, telecommunications, land reclamation etc.
"It is in recognition of these lapses that the Federal Executive Council has submitted to the National Assembly the Public Private Partnership Bill. The purpose of the bill entitled "Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Bill" is to create the enabling environment and provide the legal framework for public private partnership to thrive in our nation," he stated.
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