FG Urges Power Firms To Divest Shares To Raise Funds

Owners of the privatized power assets especially, the 11 electricity distribution companies, Discos, have been advised by the federal government to divest their equity shares to raise funds for necessary inputs like meters and transformers.

This position was made by the minister of Power Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, while receiving a delegation from the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), led by its vice-chairman, Mrs Sola David-Borha.

Fashola urged owners of assets, especially in the distribution arm of the electricity value chain, to embrace new commercial behavior suitable for operating optimally in the new commercial environment of the power sector.

The Minister, in a statement on Wednesday, May 4,  by the ministry’s director, Press, Timothy Oyedeji, said “power asset owners should be ready to bring in more funds by offering to dilute their stakes in exchange for needed inputs like meters, transformers and other equipment required for systems upgrade.”

The minister who insisted that, “it would make more business sense to give up some shares in exchange for funds and capital,” reiterated that if this advice is acceded to, it will make for redistribution of their risk assets in exchange for equipment and capacity to drastically reduce the prevailing high occurrences of commercial and technical losses.

He further reminded the power asset owners that the success of the privatization exercise of the sector rested solely on the distribution end in the value-chain.He urged them to step up their collections so as to meet the time-lines agreed with government for all parties.