Sustained
underinvestment for over three decades is hurting Nigeria’s power sector
severely. This was the message of the presentation by Taiwo Okeowo, deputy
managing director and head of investment banking division, FBN Capital, at the
2014 Power Roundtable organised by BusinessDay Conferences.
Okeowo
stated that underinvestment was not limited to capital investment but also
extended to people and skills. He observed that underinvestment in human capital
in the power sector was evident in the fact that before privatisation, the
average age of PHCN workers was 52 years.
He
commended the government for making power generation and distribution purely
market-driven but pointed out that gas supply was still a hurdle, adding that
once the gas supply issue is sorted out in addition to the transmission issue,
power sector financing would become
