Nigeria’s ailing power sector: How FG’s projections failed

As 2022 winds down, a retrospective look at the power sector holds a bleak hope. It has been a circle of stunted growth and shamble of failure from the transmission, generation and distribution subsectors. Like Nigeria’s economy, the power sector has refused to progress due to lack of investment and managerial competence. There is a nexus between the power sector and industrialization. Indeed, one cannot do without the other; an adequate electricity supply is instrumental to the growth of businesses, especially Small and Medium Enterprises.

Nigeria needs an estimated 25,000MW to 40,000MW capacity to serve its 218 million population. Still, currently, the installed generating power capacity is about 12,522MW, and transmission and distribution infrastructure can only deliver an average of 4,000MW to businesses and homes.

President Muhammadu Buhari, on his resumption of office in 2015, brought forth a renewed vista for the power sector; however, as he prepares to leave Aso Villa on May 29, 2023, the industry remains a playground of embarrassment.

Nigeria’s power industry is multidimensionally challenged, afflicted by under-investment, outdated infrastructure, debts and inefficiencies. Power shortages have crippled SMEs, stunted the growth of productive sectors and made the cost of local products uncompetitive.

The Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 and the succeeding Roadmap for Power Sector Reform 2010 set out to comprehensively transform the power industry through privatization, raise output to 40,000MW by 2020 and attract investment and the best global players into the market. Regrettably, the lofty milestones have been missed because of the age-long decay occasioned by mismanaging privatization.

Some 90 million Nigerians lacked access to electricity by 2019, the world’s worst, below Congo DR’s 70 million and Ethiopia’s 58 million, the World Bank said. The International Monetary Fund says Nigerian businesses bleed by about $29 billion annually due to power shortages.

Every approach to rescue the Nigerian power sector has hit the rock as most Nigerians live without 24-hour electricity