Appraising the New Policy Directive on ‘Eligible Customers’ in the Nigerian Power Market
Introduction On 15th May, 2017, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola issued a policy directive to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) declaring four categories of eligible customers in the Nigerian Electricity Supply...
Release of Mini-Grid Regulations by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission
On the 24th May, 2017, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) released a new Mini Grid Regulation to govern the development of integrated electricity generation and distribution supply systems of under 1MW either in isolation from the Distribution...
Implications of the New Pioneer Status Incentives in Nigeria’s Technology Industry
A. Introduction The Nigerian technology industry has witnessed explosive growth at a geometric progression of 34% year-on-year in the last decade; becoming the fastest-growing and one of the largest contributors to the economy. Its contribution to GDP grew from...
Drawbacks of Capital Control Measures Under the Proposed Foreign Exchange Amendment Bill
A. BACKGROUND Nigeria has maintained a liberalized foreign exchange market since the enactment of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act in 1995. The Act established an autonomous foreign exchange market and guaranteed the unconditional...
Nigeria’s Recession: Can Private Wealth Change the Tide?
Introduction The Nigerian economy fell into a recession in the second quarter (Q2) of 2016, as it recorded a GDP growth rate of -2.06% (www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/report/434) owing, amongst other variables, to the fall in the price of oil. In a bid to resolve the...
Reform of the Nigerian VAS Industry: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
A. Introduction A value added service (VAS) is any service other than voice calls provided over a mobile network to subscribers. In Nigeria, VAS is big business and the most popular VAS is probably caller ring back tunes. The Nigerian VAS industry, estimated to be...
Prospects of Solar Power Generation in Diversifying Nigeria’s Energy Mix
As at July 2016, the total installed power generation capacity in Nigeria, a country of over 187 million people (www.worldometers.info), was 12,522MW; 85% of which is gas-fired (thermal) and 15% is hydro-generated. The country achieved its highest peak generation...
Redefining the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria
Introduction Nigeria is currently ranked 169 out of 189 countries in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business index. This is a small improvement on Nigeria’s ranking of 170 in 2015, and 175 in 2014. Nigeria’s average ranking between 2008 and 2015 was 141, reaching an...
Dolapo Kukoyi to Speak at the African Utility Week, 17th – 19th May, 2016
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Exploring Project-Specific Bonds to Finance Infrastructure in Nigeria
Introduction The federal government has been making concerted efforts to attract private sector financing with a view to bridging the infrastructure deficit in Nigeria. The Minister of Finance, in an April 8, 2016 article, mentioned that Nigeria’s first-ever “project...