Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), urged the federal government to revamp the power sector and privatise transmission lines in order to revive the nation’s struggling economy.

In an exclusive meeting with Bloomberg, Elumelu stressed that insufficient transmission lines and lack of liquidity in the electricity market are hampering growth in the industry.

Elumelu who is also the Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), says that poor electricity supply contributes to  the low level of productivity in the country.

He stated: “The currency crisis is a sign of many things. As a country, we can’t produce well enough in spite of our natural resources. The reason is lack of electricity.”

Nigeria sends less than a third of the 13,000 megawatt of electricity it generates to the grid, leaving most Nigerians dependent on home generators.

Elumelu said the way out, is for President Bola Tinubu’s government to convince investors to develop the nation’s large gas reserves to fuel power stations, and allow the private sector to manage the transmission lines.

Nigeria sold about 15 state-owned generators to private companies to improve efficiency while keeping ownership of the transmission lines in 2013.

But the lack of investment in the transmission assets meant that they are too weak and inefficient to wheel power to consumers. “Even where you generate electricity, the grid cannot take it, so it’s a problem for us, I am advocating let us privatize transmission lines,” Elumelu stated.

Elumelu asked the federal government to lure investors to develop the nation’s large gas reserves to fuel power stations, and allow the private sector to manage the transmission lines.

“Some institutions have idle gas assets or fields. Government should take some of these and let Nigerians who have the resources and means to invest in gas take them,” he stated.