From Idu Jude Abuja
Former Minister of Power, Prof. Bat Nnaji, has urged state governments on the need to need to embrace public-private partnerships (PPPs) in procuring power infrastructure in their various states.
Prof. Nnaji gave the charge when he presented a paper at the first quarter 2024 Nigeria Public Private Partnership Network (NPPPN) meeting, with the theme: “The Decentralisation of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and the Role of the States in Rural Electrification: The Private Investor’s Perspective”.
This is coming on the heels of the passage of the Electricity Act of 2023, which empowers states to among others, procure and manage their power infrastructure.
The Nigeria Public-Private Partnership Network (NPPPN) was established in 2011 through collaboration between the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), and the Lagos State PPP office, to create a platform for all state heads of PPP units nationwide.
The programme was designed to serve as a knowledge and experience-sharing forum to upscale the learning curve of public officers at the sub-national level of government on the Public-Private Partnership form of procurement.
“Nnaji, the CEO of Geometric Power Ltd, in his presentation, said that although ownership and control of power infrastructure have been decentralised, it still wouldn’t be easy for states to wholly jump into it given the cost, technology implications, and adverse competition where states seek to control the infrastructure”.
He opined that the better option was for states to take advantage of the decentralisation to partner and establish a regional grid because of the cost.
“There are several states that believe that they can easily jump in and begin to develop power infrastructure, but the sort of financial requirement to build power infrastructure is quite a lot.
“In Nigeria, depending on the fuel source, it will cost about $1.5 million per megawatts… That is a lot just for 1MW and that is just to build the power plant, and you haven’t built the substations and all the other required infrastructure.
“So this is why it is very important that partnerships be strongly encouraged. Public Private Partnership is what delivers success, where states play their role and make their contribution,” Nnaji said.