Nigeria spends N25bn annually on generators—Group

LAGOS—Worried by the epileptic power
supply in the country, a pressure group,
Good Governance Initiative, GGI, has
disclosed that aside from being a
dumping ground for power generating
sets, Nigerians spent over N25 billion
importing same in 2012, the highest in
the world.
President of the initiative, Mr. Festus
Mbisiogu, called on Nigerians to extract a
promise from the preferred bidders of the
unbundled Power Holding Company of
Nigeria, PHCN, assets to improve on the
current generation of power to grow the
economy.
He said: “The epileptic power supply has
remained a cog in the wheel of the
nation’s progress and is eating deep into
the profits of businesses, particularly of
companies that incur huge expenses in
powering their businesses.
“The insufficient public power supply has
led to the relocation of most multinational
companies to other African countries,
those who decided to stay back rely on
generators, while those that can’t afford
such have closed shop.
“It is not surprising that in 2012 alone,
Nigerians spent N25 billion in importing
generators and this figure is sure to
increase if drastic measures are not
taken.
“Ghana recently celebrated 10 years of
uninterrupted power supply; South Africa,
with a population of over 50 million,
generates 40,000MW; Brazil has
100,000MW with a population of 192
million, while Nigeria still struggles to
generate 4,000MW for its over 160
million strong people.”
“Statistics from the Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria, MAN, revealed that
most companies spent over N800 billion
in 2012 to power their industrial
generating sets, while other small scale
business, banks and traders in various
markets spent over N2 trillion to power
theirs.
“The average residential expenditure (an
estimated 60 million residents use
generators of varying sizes) on fueling
power generators had climbed to an all
time high of N1.56 trillion.”
The GGI President called on the preferred
bidders to meet their contractual
obligations by improving on power
generation and supply so as to open new
opportunities for investment and growth
of all sectors of the economy.