….Targets N298.4Bn Revenue
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on Tuesday hinted of its intention to sell remaining 40% shares of the Federal Government in electricity distribution companies (DisCos) and offer for listing other enterprises on the capital market in 2024.
The Director-General of the Bureau Mr Alex Okoh, who made this disclosure this during a media chat in Abuja, said that the other government-owned enterprises for listing on the Nigerian Exchange next year included Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited, Nigeria Re-Insurance, NICON Insurance, and the Nigeria Machine Tools in Osogbo.
Okoh explained the original intent of the government following the partial privatisation of Discos was to list its 40% stake on the stock market to ensure that Nigerians own majority stake in the enterprises and not just a core group of investors.
He said: “One of the original intentions of the way that the partial privatisation of the Discos was done was to be able to list that 40 per cent that is still being held by the government in the stock market. And that way you are democratising the ownership of these government entities.
“So, the capital market, yes, once we resolve the 40 per cent ownership in the Discos. We also plan to take Eleme Petrochemicals to the capital market. We had also planned to take Nigerian Re-Insurance and NICON Insurance to the capital market, of course, but we then started to have some problems with the former core investor, Jimoh Ibrahim.
“So, there are a lot of issues that are involved in taking some of these entities to the market. The Nigerian Machine Tools in Oshogbo is also slated for the capital market.
“Yes, on all fronts, we expect a more active year in 2024 for the BPE, and every step of the way, both in terms of educating the public and also helping us to navigate various stakeholder concerns, we will have to work with the media,” Okoh added.
He said the new administration was more open to the idea of privatisation, adding that moves are underway to bring this to fruition.
According to him, Federal Government expects to generate N298.4 billion from the privatisation of government-owned enterprises in 2024.
On the rumour of plans by the government to swap some of the shares of power distribution companies with state governments as reported in a section of the media recently, the BPE boss said he was not aware of such a plan.
The Director-General clarified: “I am not aware and the government hasn’t told me that there is a plan to swap equity between Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) power plants and the Discos. Don’t forget that even the 40 per cent that is residual as government interest in those Discos is not entirely owned by the Federal Government.
“You have the Federal Government and the states owning part of it, and the labour unions are also contending to have some of that 40 per cent. So it is not really available to be swapped with states’ shares in the NIPP plants, no! That is not what I understand”, Okoh added.
