Yunana Malo, Director, Energy Department, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) says there is no plan to privatize the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
He said, at a media conference on Monday in Abuja, rather than that, the Bureau would concession it to get maximum value.
He said the transmission was the weak link in the power reform, as the generation which was privatized had since attracted a lot of investments, making it more efficient.
He said the generation capacity had improved, adding that 60 percent of the distribution segment had also been partially privatized and was beginning to pick up through the reforms of the Federal Government.
“The seemingly weak link in the transmission component, it is still 100 percent owned by the FG.
“The idea is to think outside the box and bring in solutions that will make the transmission component service the value chain, and make it more efficient.
“Government is not thinking of privatizing, it is thinking of ways and means that the private capital can be brought into the transmission component without giving out the ownership of Transmission Company.”
He explained that the Bureau would concession the transmission segment, “so that we can have somebody building the high tension lines, covering areas that have not been reached or to maintain the existing ones to get maximum value, to move from the radial system we have today into a mesh.
“So the idea is not to privatize but to reform and make it efficient, bringing in private sector operational modalities within the transmission company.”
On the Federal Government’s 40 percent stake in the Distribution Companies (DISCOS), Malo said the shares were still intact and protected by BPE.
Mr Alex Okoh, BPE Director-General, said over the years, N1 trillion had been generated from 234 concluded transactions of previously government-owned enterprises from various sectors of the economy.
He said the Bureau expected to generate N493.40 billion net revenue from various transactions as approved by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).
He said over 30 projects had been categorized under five segments with 22 of them carried over from 2020.
He, however, said the plan to privatize the nation’s refineries had been dropped as the Federal Government was considering other approaches to revitalize and improve on them.
The director-general said BPE was very close to resolving the issues surrounding the Ajaokuta Steel Company, especially the litigation, and that once that was done a decision would be taken on how to proceed with it.
Okoh said the rationale for privatization was to generate revenue for the government, reduce operational inefficiencies, revitalize and optimize public sector entities and increase investment level as a catalyst for growth.
“The country’s fiscal space is getting increasingly constrained, as a result, the government cannot provide the resources required to meet all of its obligations and bridge the huge infrastructure gap.
“The most feasible option is to attract private sector investments. BPE’s current initiative in its 2021 work plan and additional roles in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) space is, therefore, poised to impact the economy positively.
“This is in the areas of infrastructure development, improved health care service delivery, power generation and supply, employment creation, food security, and human capital development.”
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