AFRICA’S OIL GIANT CAN’T PAY ITS OWN POWER BILLS — TINUBU CALLS ON THE RICH
NIGERIA SITS ON OIL — BUT CAN’T KEEP THE LIGHTS ON!
President Bola Tinubu’s government is turning to Nigeria’s wealthiest individuals and billionaire-backed corporations to help settle a staggering $2.3 BILLION debt owed to power generation companies money the government has owed since as far back as 2015.
Nigeria Africa’s largest oil producer is home to one of the continent’s most broken power sectors.
Officials say settling the debt could unlock up to 4,484 megawatts of idle capacity and stabilise electricity supply for roughly 12 million customers, as Nigeria grapples with persistent outages and grid collapses.
The programme involves 15 power plants, including billionaire-backed giants like Egbin Power and Transcorp Power. Geregu Power Plc, previously controlled by billionaire Femi Otedola, also signed onto the programme.
Yet the painful irony is impossible to ignore according to the World Bank, 38.8% of Nigeria’s population still lacked access to electricity in 2023, one of the highest rates globally.
A nation that exports crude oil to power the rest of the world cannot power its own homes.
Since the privatisation of Nigeria’s power assets in 2013, distribution companies have struggled to collect sufficient revenue, leaving generators unpaid and unable to settle gas suppliers trapping the sector in a cycle of underinvestment and reduced output.
Africa is watching.
An oil-rich nation asking its billionaires to pay debts the government owes is not a power crisis it is a governance crisis.
Nigeria produces oil worth billions every year so why are millions still living in darkness?
African hype media
It is a mess