According to data by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the debt owed to banks by operators in the power sector rose by 12.83 percent in one year to N861.14bn in December 2021.
This is amid the lingering problems plaguing the sector since it was privatized over eight years ago.
The Federal Government officially privatized the six successor power generation companies and 11 distribution firms that were unbundled from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
The acquisitions by the core investors were financed mostly by debts, a significant portion of which was provided by local banks.
Power generation firms and independent power producers increased their total debt to N522.2bn in December 2021 from N443.37bn in December 2020, according to figures obtained from the CBN.
Transmission and distribution firms owed banks N338.94bn as of December 2021, up from N319.85bn a year earlier.
It had been reported on Tuesday that the crisis rocking Nigeria’s power sector seems to be expanding annually despite efforts by the Federal Government and the private sector in managing it.
Chris Akamnonu, who served as managing director in three Discos in the South-East and South-West for about 13 years, said, “The situation is more complex than the ordinary person sees. The entire experiment may not be yielding the desired results; that is the frank truth.”
