Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Energies, has urged the Nigerian government to privatise state-owned transmission lines to boost electricity supply and foster economic growth.
Elumelu stated this in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, saying that revamping the electricity sector is essential to reviving the struggling economy.
He stated that insufficient transmission lines and a lack of liquidity in the electricity market are impeding the industry’s expansion.
Elumelu said, “Even where you generate electricity, the grid cannot take it, so it’s a problem for us. Some institutions have idle gas assets or fields. The government should take some of these and let Nigerians who have the resources and means to invest in gas take them”.
“I am advocating that let us privatize transmission lines,” he added.
Elumelu stated that the administration of President Bola Tinubu ought to draw in investors and allow the private sector to manage the transmission lines to capitalise on the country’s enormous gas reserves for electricity production.
To increase efficiency, Nigeria privatised about fifteen state-owned power plants in 2013, but the government kept control of the transmission infrastructure.
However, since they invested insufficient money in them, these transmission assets are inadequate in providing consumers with power.
