On The Just Concluded West African Power Industry Convention 2015

Matters Arising (Part 1)

By Idowu Oyebanjo

The just concluded West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC 2015) event held from 23rd till 26th November 2015 at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos was a strategic hub for stakeholders looking for collaboration and joint solutions to the intractable challenges bedevilling the electrification of the West African sub-region. The main focus was the status of the Nigerian Power Sector reform. Some of the key conclusions from the event are highlighted below:

1. There is an urgent need for the new Minister in charge of Power to put together a team of technocrats with proven expertise to review the status of the power sector reform with a view to establishing and possibly dismantling bottlenecks in the entire value chain of generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Nigeria. This team, which must be apolitical, will review existing laws, policies and processes as they affect the dismal performance of the reform despite humongous amount of investment in the last 20 years. Serving as a "system architect", it will take a holistic view of the entire system from end-to-end, ensuring synergies between parallel and hitherto conflicting activities which have more often than not led to policy reversals and summersaults creating thus far the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity experienced in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) to the sheer embarrassment of all stakeholders.

 2. To be able to sustain NESI, there is an urgent need for a clear focus on localisation and capacity development for the power sector work force by strictly implementing the Nigerian Content development regulation, establishing a power academy (university for the power sector) and apprenticeships that fit into the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs Levels 1-6), as well as  provide funding for training and research grants focusing on specific areas of need of NESI.