Nigeria needs at least 100,000MW to stabilise economy — Elumelu

The Chairman, Transcorp Group, Tony Elumelu in an interview on AriseTV has said, the country needs between 5000 Mega Watts (MW) and 100,000MW in order to stabilise the economy.

According to Elumelu, “Nigeria needs about 100,000 MW to power the economy. It also needs to stabilize the transmission lines and ensure access to gas supply.”

He noted the need for an improvement in generation output in the country. The country currently generates less than 5000MW of electricity. The country has a demand of at least 28,000MW.

“For Nigerians to heave a sigh of relief in the sector, it needs to boost generation, fix gas supply to GenCos, boost payment of distribution and ensure power generated is taken by DisCos,” he said.

Elumelu commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on its efforts in providing funding for the sector despite the current liquidity crisis.

“I must commend the CBN Governor because he has helped to maintain peace in the space. Before the end of 2020, NBET used to pay about 20% but it now pays about 50%. It is still a critical sector that still needs investment and stakeholders must ensure it works,” he said.

Tony Elumelu is a renowned businessman with investments in the generation subsector.

On his company’s investments, he said, “Moving into the future, we shall continue to expand, invest, and build the brand of the company sustainably as we believe that there is a lot of value trapped within Transcorp that needs to be unleashed and recognized by the market.”