21 December 2009
Nigeria loses N1 trillion annually to power failure
Posted by admin under: Uncategorized .
Excerpts from an article by Idris Akinbajo in 234Next of 21st December, 2009
Nigeria spends about N400 billion yearly to import diesel to run our homes and industries, but energy experts, some of whom work in the Ministry of Power, say the real crisis in the sector today is the N1.8 trillion loss in the nation’s annual Gross Domestic Product, as a consequence of the current energy policy presided over by Rilwan Lanre Babalola, the energy minister.
“The poorest in our community, currently pay more than N80 per kilowatt burning candles and firewood, while our manufacturers pay in excess of N60 per kilowatt on diesel generation and everyone else pays around N50 per kilowatt on self-generation” an energy expert in the Ministry of Power who spoke confidentially to NEXT in Abuja at the weekend said. Gross Domestic Product represents the total value of goods and services produced in a country over a period of time, typically a year.
Energy economists in and out of government have been speaking in muted but angry tones at the missed opportunities under the leadership of Mr. Babalola, who they worry, defines his priority in the energy sector in a rather simplistic way.
Speaking to the industry journal, Africa Oil+Gas Report, back in April this year, Mr. Babalola who holds a doctorate degree in energy economics from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, explained his priority this way: “…from a cycle perspective, first improve your infrastructure, pump money into it, but manage it such that it could at least pay for itself.” Between putting in place an ambitious and strategic energy reform agenda, and engaging in the perennial but tactical option of pumping money into infrastructure to fix assets, the minister seems to have chosen the later.
Read the rest of the article on 234Next
