Power Sector: Stakeholders Brainstorm Over Privatisation 10 Years After, Way Forward

After 10 years of power sector privatisation, stakeholders are set to take critical review of the outcomes and to set agenda on the way forward towards achieving stable, efficient and reliable electricity supplies to the nation.

Expected to participate in the roundtable discussion include market participants, government agencies and institutions, as well as other key stakeholders on Monday to assess the performance of the sector
and its challenges, as a step towards charting a pathway for the progression of the power sector.

Key stakeholders believe
that the examination of the sector along the lines of defined
parameters should be a
welcomed development as it
affords players the opportunity to clinically determine the issues in the sector and
proffer solutions.

Significantly, this
10 -year milestone, post-
privatisation, in view of the
continued challenges of the
power sector, presents the
perfect opportunity that is not
so much acelebration but a
sober reflection/retrospection
and an audit of how far we have
come, how much further we need to go, and what we
require for the journey ahead.

Chairman of the Roundtable
planning committee, Prof Stephen Ogaji, in a statement jointly signed by him and Bode Fadipe, Secretary, NMPSR Planning
Committee

indicated that the 3 -day Roundtable event
will have eight plenary sessions
which will encompass the
various segments of the NESI viz: Power Generation; Gas to
power; Power Distribution,
Transmission, Metering and
Customer Centricity,
Renewable Energy and
Climate Change, Access to
Finance, Liquidity and Recapitalization. The
conference will also look at the
regulatory and policy ecosystem, with a particular
emphasis on the Electricity Act, 2023.

He recalled that privatization of the NESI, which
took place in 2013 marked a
historic turning point in Nigeria’s
energy sector, transitioning it
from the era of the Power
Holding Company of Nigeria
(PHCN) to a system of private
investor ownership and
participation.

He however, observed that the
progress in NESI , post-
privatization has not fully met
the lofty expectations set forth
in the National Electricity Power
Policy, 2001(NEPP), the Electric
Power Sector Reform Act, 2005
(EPSRA) now Electricity Act 2023,
and the Road Map for Power
Sector Reform, 2010.

Thus, the theme of the conference “NESI privatization & it’s 10-year
milestone:The Journey So Far,
Opportunities and Prospects. ”