Utilities
From The Report: Nigeria 2019
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Access to power remains one of Nigeria’s chief economic and social issues, with about 90m citizens lacking access to electricity, while the World Bank estimates per capita usage is lower in just eight other countries. Indeed, as the biggest domestic market in Africa, the country has great potential for manufacturing, but most investment in the sector tends to prioritise a steady and reliable supply of power. The 2017 Power Sector Recovery Programme is providing a series of reforms aimed at prioritising investment, restructuring the sector and re-evaluating problems related to payment and tariffs. Alongside this, the development of new sources of energy, progress of independent power producers, local control of regional grid development, and funding to upgrade and expand the existing network are generating opportunities going forward. This chapter contains an interview with Ladi Sanni, CEO, Viathan Engineering.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Powering up: International support and regulatory measures are helping develop the grid and expand electricity access
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Access to power remains one of Nigeria’s chief economic and social issues: according to Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, about 90m citizens lack access to electricity, while World Bank data estimates per capita usage is lower in just eight other countries. As the biggest domestic market in Africa, the country has great potential for manufacturing, but most investment in the sector tends to prioritise a steady and reliable supply of power. According to government calculations,…

Analysis

Locally generated: Off-line grids and smaller systems targeted to boost reliability
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Although Nigeria’s 2013 move to privatise the majority of its power sector assets has by many standards failed to create the level of returns hoped for, market participants still see the country’s electrification as an investment opportunity. However, there has been a shift in focus from the national system to smaller, local projects. The 2017 Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) is unique in comparison to past master plans, as it moves beyond issues related to the nationwide supply chain and…

Interview

Marked improvement: Ladi Sanni, CEO, Viathan Engineering, on boosting the financing and infrastructure climate for power projects
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Interview :Ladi Sanni In what ways are captive power plants more attractive for developers in Nigeria? LADi SANNI: Focusing on the captive power model enables developers to avoid most of the challenges associated with the national grid’s power value chain. This particularly applies to transmission challenges, as well as aggregate, technical and commercial losses. Since power purchase agreements (PPAs) under a captive model are secure, there are very few collection issues. PPA’s are backed…