AFC to Play Central Role in
Presidential Committee for Accelerated Expansion of Power
Infrastructure Sector
19
February, 2008
The
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is playing a central role
in a new presidential initiative on energy in Nigeria.
The Government of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria recently carried out an extensive review
of the country’s protracted power supply crisis. Its
conclusion was that after years of failure, it was now time
for the government to engage the partnership of the private
sector to fix this crisis urgently and drive new capacity
growth for the future. Against this background, on the 19th
of February, 2007, President Umaru Yar’Adua announced the
inauguration of the Presidential Committee for the
Accelerated Expansion of Power Infrastructure.
“Our goal is for this
Committee, driven by private sector leadership, to
quickly—within 18 months—deliver the 6,000 megawatt
generation, transmission and distribution capacity planned
under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) and add
an extra 11,000 megawatts of power capacity through diverse
sources, including coal, hydro and gas, by 2011,” President
Yar’Adua said.
As a private sector-led
development finance institution dedicated to infrastructure,
AFC as a public-private partnership is well positioned to
bring the significant technical capacity and investment
required.
The makeup of the committee
reflects this public-private partnership. The Honourable
Minister for Power, Mrs. Fatima Balaraba Ibrahim will serve
as Chair. Members include Alhaji Aliku Dangote, Chairman of
the Dangote Group, the country’s largest industrial group,
Mr. Austine O. Ometoruwa, President and Chief Executive
Officer of the Africa Finance Corporation and Mr. Lewis
Tung, Group Managing Director of the Wempco Group, the
oldest and largest Chinese industrial group. Messrs. Dangote,
Ometoruwa and Tung are all board members of the AFC.
Other committee members are
Dr. Rowlan Owan, Chairman and Chief Executive of the
Nigerian Electricity and Regulatory Commission as Secretary,
Engineer J. Makoju, Special Advisor to the President, Mr.
Cyril Odu, Executive Director of Exxon Mobil, Mr. Atedo
Peterside, Chairman of IBTC Bank, Mr. Kola Ashiru, Executive
Director, Sahara Energy Resources, Mr. Abubakar Lawal
Yar’Adua, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and Mr. Tanimu Yakubu, Chief
Economic Advisor to the President.
The uniqueness of this new
initiative is that it is totally private sector-driven with
the support of the public sector.
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