FG woos investors to support Nigeria’s power sector reform

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has called on investors to support the Federal Government’s power sector reform agenda to make the sector commercially viable and attractive.

The minister, who was speaking on Tuesday at the Project Hoover Series II Investor Forum in Abuja, described reliable electricity as the basis of sustained economic growth in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which is already reshaping the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

He said, “The Federal Government has been unequivocal in its commitment to repositioning the power sector as a commercially viable and investment-grade industry under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. There can be no sustained economic growth without reliable electricity, and there can be no reliable electricity without financially sustainable markets. That is the philosophy underpinning the reforms we are pursuing in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.”

Tegbe, who alluded to the fact that the Electricity Act 2023 is playing a great role in reshaping the sector, however acknowledged that no market can attract fresh capital while still bearing the weight of unresolved historical obligations.

“We are fostering a more competitive electricity market, empowering sub-national governments, expanding transmission infrastructure, accelerating renewable energy deployment, strengthening regulatory certainty, and improving governance across the value chain. These reforms are already changing the investment narrative. This is the rationale behind Project Hoover as an economic reform instrument rather than a financing transaction. This project, therefore, offers a unique opportunity to investors to participate in the stabilisation of one of Africa’s largest electricity markets whilst contributing to reforms that will generate enduring economic value,” he said.

He charged investors to see the Series II offering beyond a fixed-income instrument but as a partnership with the government to drive industrial growth.

“Our destination is clear: a financially sustainable, investment-led electricity market that powers Nigeria’s industrial renaissance. Therefore, I encourage you to see this offering beyond a mere fixed-income instrument. It should be viewed as an opportunity to partner with the federal government in writing the next chapter of our economic story.

“I invite you to put your confidence and your capital behind a reform agenda that is restoring the commercial foundations of Nigeria’s electricity sector and unlocking the immense opportunities that lie ahead,” the minister concluded.