Abuja, Nov. 13, 2024 – The Federal Government requires $10 billion in public-private partnership investment to achieve a 24-hour stable power supply in the country.
Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, said this while receiving Dr Jobson Ewalefoh, the Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in his office.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by Mr Ifeanyi Nwoko, Acting Head, Media and Publicity in ICRC, Adelabu said such investments were required within the next five to 10 years.
“Government cannot do it alone; this is why we have to look for organised private sector funding while still retaining government interest and ownership.
“That is where ICRC comes in. We need to do this in collaboration with the private sector, and the best way is through concession,’’ he said.
Earlier, Ewalefoh had said government needed private sector input through Public Private Partnership to improve the power sector.
He said optimising performance of existing infrastructure as well as funding new ones were imperative given the importance of power to the economic development of the nation.
The ICRC boss said that the challenges in the sector were many and had gone beyond funding by the Federal Government alone.
He said the limitations could be addressed with interagency collaboration and partnership with the private sector.
He added that the ICRC could also attract more foreign direct investment to other sectors and ultimately grow the economy.
“Revamping the power sector requires planning; it involves investments, and it takes time. So, we need to collaborate to solve the issues in this sector.
“The investment required in the power sector is very huge, and the government cannot fund it alone, so we have to leverage the financing capacity of the private sector.
”That is why the ICRC was set up to regulate this leverage,” he said.
Ewalefoh commended the minister for his vast knowledge of the sector, noting that President Bola Tinubu’s decision on his choice was commendable.
He recalled that in a bid to accelerate PPP investment as directed by the President, the commission issued a 6-point policy direction that streamlined the process of PPP service delivery.
Ewalefoh said that the commission was not relenting or compromising on its stringent regulatory function to forestall contingent liabilities or unnecessary delays by companies that lacked the requisite capacity.
