• Oyedele: Model will be replicated in housing, transport, agriculture, others •Power minister urges investors to back ongoing reforms • Verheijen: FG converting legacy debt into bankable investment •Babalola says government targeting stronger sector liquidity Emmanuel Addeh and Aminat Hassan in Abuja The federal government yesterday intensified efforts to raise a fresh N729 billion from the capital market to deepen liquidity in the power sector, following the successful N501 billion maiden issuance earlier this year, assuring investors that reforms underway in the electricity industry are already yielding results. The assurances were given at the Project Hoover Series II Investor Forum in Abuja, attended by top government officials, including the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele as well as the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen. Others in attendance included: The Special Adviser to the President on Power, Lanre Babalola, erstwhile Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Johnson Akinnawo, Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), development partners, financial institutions and other market participants. Speaking at the event, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Oyedele, said the bond programme represented a tested model for mobilising long-term capital into critical infrastructure. He noted that the N501 billion maiden issuance had been fully subscribed and subsequently listed on both the Nigerian Exchange and FMDQ Exchange before successfully meeting its repayment obligations. “We return not with promises but with evidence,” Oyedele said. He explained that persistent tariff shortfalls, settlement gaps, mounting debts to generation companies and weak liquidity had constrained investment in the electricity sector for years, necessitating a market-based solution. According to him, President Bola Tinubu approved a comprehensive review of power sector liabilities in July 2024, leading to the establishment of the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Committee (PPSDRC). He said the initiative had helped create an investable framework supported by government guarantees while leveraging private capital to finance critical infrastructure. Oyedele disclosed that the government intends to replicate the financing model across other strategic sectors, including housing, transportation, agriculture and technology. “Stability is only the beginning. The next phase is investment, productivity, and shared prosperity. We need to finance our growth differently because public resources alone will never be sufficient to meet the scale of infrastructure investment Nigeria requires. “Private capital must play a larger role, and our responsibility as government is to create investable opportunities supported by sound policy, credible institutions, and appropriate risk allocation. The bond is exactly that model. The government provides the policy framework and the guarantee. The capital market mobilises long-term savings, institutional investors provide patient capital, and the power sector receives the liquidity it needs to grow. Everybody wins. “This is precisely the type of partnership we intend to replicate across key infrastructure, including housing, transportation, agriculture, and technology,” the minister maintained. In his remarks, the Minister of Power, Tegbe, said the government was creating a financially sustainable electricity market capable of attracting long-term private capital, stressing that reliable electricity remained indispensable to Nigeria’s economic transformation. “There can be no sustained economic growth without reliable electricity, and there can be no reliable electricity without financially sustainable markets. That is the philosophy underpinning the reforms we are pursuing in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry,” Tegbe said. According to him, unresolved historical obligations had remained a major impediment to fresh investment, making Project Hoover an economic reform initiative rather than merely another financing transaction. “Our destination is clear: a financially sustainable, investment-led electricity market that powers Nigeria’s industrial renaissance. I encourage you to see this offering beyond a mere fixed-income instrument. It should be viewed as an opportunity to partner with the federal government in writing the next chapter of our economic story,” the minister said. Recalling the success of the maiden issuance, Tegbe noted that investors had demonstrated confidence in the reform agenda by oversubscribing the N501 billion Series I bond. Also speaking, the Sp
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