NIGERIAN ECONOMIC SUMMIT II: PRIVATE PARTICIPATION, RESPECT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000481 SIPDIS TREASURY FOR DFIELDS, AIERONIMO, RHALL, DPETERS STATE PASS OPIC FOR DERB, ZHAN, MSTUCKART, JEDWARDS STATE PASS TDA FOR LFITTS, PMARIN STATE PASS USAID FOR NFREEMAN, GBERTOLIN, GWEYNAND, SLAWAETZ STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER, KJACKSON, KJANIK DOC FOR 3317/ITA/OA/KBURRESS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID EFIN EINV PGOV NI SUBJECT: NIGERIAN ECONOMIC SUMMIT II: PRIVATE PARTICIPATION, RESPECT FOR CONTRACTS, MARKET PRICE FOR GAS ESSENTIAL TO GROW POWER SECTOR ¶1. (U) Summary: Participants at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group's power sector forum held October 22 agreed that private sector funding is crucial if Nigeria is to attain 70,000 megawatts of electricity, projected to cost USD 50 billion, by 2020. Forum participants concluded that Nigeria needs to review its electricity laws, price gas properly, strengthen its electricity off-takers and remove administrative bottlenecks to achieve its goal. They also noted that over-regulation of the power industry and probes by successive governments have stalled otherwise viable power projects. They urged the Federal Government to create "islands of success" on the Geometric Independent Power Project model. End summary. ¶2. (U) An interactive session on the state of the Nigerian power sector was held on October 22, day two of the 14th annual Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja. Invited speakers were drawn from Britain, India and Nigeria. The forum sought to identify strategies and frameworks that Nigeria could copy or adapt to transform its power sector, and to reach its goal of generating 70,000MW of power by ¶2020. Private Sector Participation Essential -------------- ¶3. (U) Professor Barth Nnaji, CEO, Geometric Power Nigeria Limited (GPNL) said that to achieve the goal of generating 70,000MW, Nigeria must spend USD50 billion. Such a large expenditure requires the participation of the private sector. Andrew Reicher, CEO of Globeleq, a U.K. company, said that USD25 billion will be required to build the generating plants and an additional USD25 billion to improve transmission and distribution. ¶4. (U) According to Nnaji, GPNL, which will be commissioned in April 2009, had benefited from the decentralisation of the power sector. Nnaji advocated for effective and sustainable decentralisation of the system and the creation of what he called "islands of success", consisting of local grids that serve industries in strategic locations. These power producers should be independent of the national grid, which is inadequate and vulnerable to vandalism, but may themselves interconnect. To Raise Needed USD 50 Billion -------------- ¶5. (U) Andrew Reicher, said Globeleq, whose major shareholder is Actis, a private equity firm operating in Lagos, is interested in Nigeria and is already partnering with the Akwa Ibom State government to grow the assets of its Ibom Power Project. He warned that while companies like his are willing to help in the design and construction of plants, they can only put up one third of the required funding; the rest must be sourced from institutional lenders like the World Bank. But Nigeria Must Honor Its Contracts -------------- ¶6. (U) Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria noted that Nigeria's plan to adopt Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in power projects will require up to three years to mature; which means there will be no improvement in the power situation in evidence before Nigeria's next national election. He advised Nigeria to get some projects off the ground now and to learn from them for future projects. Nigeria does not need the World Bank, because it has both the gas and money required to finance the projects, but the WB would be willing to help on the technical side, he said. Reicher noted that private companies like Globeleq will deliver on their part of the bargain, but also will need to be paid. He therefore urged the political class and consumers to accept that private equity companies and institutional investors must make a profit if they are to be part of infrastructure development. Ransome Owan, Chairman, National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said there are plans to issue bonds that can be bought and sold in the market place to raise funds for required power projects in the short term. Geometric Model Planned for North -------------- ¶7. (U) GPNL, located in Aba, Abia State in Nigeria's south east, was built at a cost of USD386 million. Nnaji said local banks Stanbic IBTC and Diamond Bank provided the construction financing before long term funding could be accessed from the International Finance Corporation and World Bank. GPNL makes 100 percent of the 188MW LAGOS 00000481 002 OF 003 power it generates available to industries in and around Aba. The company has no sovereign guarantees from the Nigerian government. Nnaji said sales to commercial customers have been negotiated based on NERC's Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO). He said GPNL is a model for a joint power project in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina states, which will entail building a power plant and gas pipelines. Decentralized Grid Better for Nigeria -------------- ¶8. (U) Dr. V. S. Verma of the Indian Central Electricity Authority (CEA) advised Nigeria to copy the Indian transmission model which evolved from state and regional grids which later interconnected to form the national grid. Although 45 percent of India's population still lacks access to electric power, Verma said the gradual evolution of the national grid ensured that a large number of people did obtain access. He said this also enabled the reduction of electricity theft from 40 percent to the current 28 percent. Verma expects that theft will be further reduced to 15 percent by 2012 with the enactment of laws providing for severe punishment for electricity theft. Verma said the Indian CEA is willing to help Nigeria to design thermal, hydro, transmission and distribution projects; to structure its regulatory affairs and to develop standards, specifications, contract documents, demand forecasting and generation, transmission and distribution planning, using India's software models. Price Gas Properly to Achieve Power Goal -------------- ¶9. (U) GPNL favors power plant concessions rather than joint ventures with government so that efficiency is achieved more quickly. Nnaji also advised that off-takers be made stronger and more creditable through concessions, while generating companies must be given real incentives such as rights to gas use and duty free importation of turbines and components. He said the country's gas infrastructure must be developed and the gas properly priced to encourage production sufficient to satisfy domestic demand. Onno Ruhl of the World Bank agreed that getting gas to current power plants is critical to solving Nigeria's power problem. Ruhl noted that the current price for gas is inadequate. Removal of Administrative Bottlenecks Necessary -------------- -- ¶10. (U) Bureaucratic delays can inhibit Nigeria from meeting its target of power infrastructure development. Reicher said there is no shortage of capital for Nigeria's power plans, but government's administrative capacity to support the sector is the main problem. For example, installing a turbine which ordinarily would take 28 months can take 10 years if bottlenecks in Nigeria's bureaucracy are not eliminated, he said. The government must stop generating complicated processes which slow down power plant construction and create a regulatory regime that incentivizes development with a market driven tariff structure in place, he said. Owan said NERC is gradually growing in autonomy and experiencing only limited political interference. Creating a level playing field for all players, building an integrated system and making investment decisions easier are priorities for NERC, said Owan. ¶11. (U) Reicher decried the financial weakness and slow functioning of Nigeria's power off-takers. He said the India's Power Trading Company helped to revolutionize the sector by improving off-takers' credit quality. It also ensured open access to generating companies so that customers in any location in the country can be served, a model Nigeria should copy, Reicher opined. Owan noted Nigeria must meet the challenge of building a sector that allows trading in electricity just like other goods and services, a new concept for Nigeria. Probes and Over-Regulation Stall Power Sector Growth -------------- -------------- ¶12. (U) Participants at the forum noted that probes by successive governments have stalled otherwise viable power projects. They decried over-regulation of an industry still in its infancy and called for allowing "islands of success" to grow before tightening regulations. Electricity Law Reforms Key to Indian Success -------------- LAGOS 00000481 003 OF 003 ¶13. (U) Dr. Verma of India's CEA compared the current situation in the Nigerian power sector to post-independence India in 1947 which had only 1,362 megawatts (MW) capacity. He said Nigeria could copy India which grew its capacity to 145,555MW in 2007 by constantly reviewing and liberalizing its electricity laws. That allowed India to provide reliable and quality energy at competitive rates and to grow the economy at 8 to 9 percent. ¶14. (U) Although India modified the Indian Electricity Act of 1910 in 1948 to create State Electricity Boards and in 1998 to eliminate government determined tariffs, create a Central Electricity Regulatory commission, and allow states to create their own Electricity Regulatory Commissions; it was the 2003 Electricity Act revision that was the game changer in India's power sector. That Act encouraged private sector participation in generation, transmission and distribution. It de-licensed generation and introduced the concept of non-discriminatory open access on transmission and distribution networks. Shri Chandon Roy, Operations Director, NTPC Limited, the largest power generating company in India, said the Act ensured that government distanced itself from the sector and gave the signal for interested private companies to enter. According to Verma, India has greatly diversified its power sources with thermal accounting for 92,893MW (64 percent of total),hydro 36,348 MW (25 percent),renewable energy sources (RES) 12,194 MW (8 percent) and nuclear 4,120MW (3 percent). ¶15. (U) This cable has been cleared by Embassy Abuja. BLAIR