The Federal Government (FG) is set to sell off or lease 36 state-owned assets to private investors in a measure aimed at shoring up revenues.
1st News reports that Nigeria is currently battling a huge drop in revenues as a result of reduced earnings from crude oil; as well as from the after-shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The development was confirmed by the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex Okoh, on Tuesday, July 13.
Among the assets being considered are two free economic zones in Kano and Calabar. Also targeted are Nigeria’s power generation assets. Okoh disclosed that the power plants have the capacity to add 3,300 megawats to the nation’s electricity generation. On the other hand, he revealed that the economic zones will boost export earnings by about $2 billion; specifically over the next five to seven years. Both projections make the assets juicy prospects for potential investors.
The latest development comes in contrast to the previous stand of the FG; which had insisted that it was not considering putting up the nation’s assets for sale.
Meanwhile, the move comes against a backdrop of heavy borrowing by the FG as oil revenues continue to plunge. The Nigerian Ministry of Finance disclosed that crude oil revenues fell short of projected target by 49.5% in the first five months through May. This was contained in a report released by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning on Tuesday.
Furthermore, non-oil revenue also fell below expectation by 24.9%; leaving the FG with little choice but to consider rescinding its stand on the sale of national assets.
