Federal Government Criticizes Nigeria’s Electricity Generation, Calls for Economic Reforms
President Bola Tinubu has described Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity of 4.5 gigawatts (GW) as shameful, given the country’s size and potential.
He expressed his displeasure during the inauguration of a 31-member Presidential Economic Coordination Council at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa Abuja, highlighting the urgent need for innovative solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges.
“We have the challenge of energy security in Nigeria,” President Tinubu stated. “We need to work together to improve our oil and gas sector, and we must also increase electricity generation and distribution throughout the country. As a nation, it is so shameful that we are still generating 4.5GW of electricity.”
The President emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships in driving economic reforms and announced ambitious measures to stabilize the economy, create jobs, and enhance economic security.
These measures, under the Economic Stabilization Programme, include initiatives in the energy sector aimed at increasing on-grid electricity delivery from 4.5GW to 6GW within six months and boosting oil production to 2 million barrels per day within the next 12 months.
In addition to energy security, President Tinubu outlined plans to remove barriers to investment in the energy sector to enhance competitiveness.
He also announced measures to support agriculture and food security, aiming to increase staple crop production by small-holder farmers from 127 million metric tons (MT) in 2023 to 135 million MT this year, and to bolster production by partnering with larger-scale commercial farmers.
The President highlighted plans to support qualified farmers with satellite imagery for land use planning, crop rotation, and monitoring of agricultural expansion.
In the health and social welfare sector, the government aims to make essential medicines available at lower costs for 80-90 million Nigerians and expand healthcare insurance coverage for 1 million vulnerable people through a Vulnerable Group Fund in collaboration with state governments.
Further, the government plans to redeploy 20,000 healthcare workers to provide services to 10-12 million patients in urgently needed areas and to power up 4,800 primary healthcare centres (PHCs), second-tier, and third-tier hospitals using renewable energy sources.
President Tinubu also announced fiscal measures to improve access to finance for the housing sector, MSMEs, and the manufacturing sector.
These include support for new and existing youth-owned enterprises, creating 7,400 MSMEs within the next 6-12 months, and a ₦650 billion facility to provide lower-cost short-term financing for youth-owned businesses, manufacturers, and MSMEs.
Additionally, a Manufacturing Stabilization Fund will rejuvenate up to 250 companies and deliver lower-cost long-term facilities to large, medium-scale, and light manufacturers.
The Grow Nigeria Development Fund will support MSMEs with a single-digit interest rate loan portfolio in collaboration with sub-national governments.
To support rural economies, the Bank of Industry’s Rural Development Programme will develop 300 new MSMEs for each state, resulting in 11,100 new rural-based MSMEs across the Federation.
A Mortgage Finance Acceleration Facility will deliver affordable housing, supporting the construction of an additional 25,000 housing units.
“These fiscal measures will improve access to finance for MSMEs and, in the process, create 4.7 million direct and indirect jobs over a six to 12-month period,” President Tinubu concluded.
