Tony Elumelu, chairman of Transcorp Nigeria Plc, planned investment of $2.5 billion in power project across the country will boost Nigeria’s national grid by 700 megawatts, MW, according to Bloomerg.
Elumelu revealed that investments in the power sector will be made through Transcorp Power Ltd, a subsidiary company.
Although he not give a time frame, Elumelu said the company was ready to “spend a lot of money” on the 987MW capacity Afam Power Plant which is up for privatisation.
On March 15, the company along with two others, had launched a bid for Afam Power Plant which operates a natural-gas-fired power generation facility in Rivers State.
He said If Transcorp Power successfully acquires the facility, the firm’s daily power output will increase by 700MW, noting that 1400MW to the national grid.
“We have expressed interest in the acquisition of Afam power plant, which we’re going to spend a lot of money on. It’ll give us 1,400 megawatts and we can do more,” he said.
Speaking on a N90 billion debts owed Transcorp Power, Elumelu said such has the tendency to hamper growth in the sector. If they owe you that kind of money, it affects your ability to do more and more importantly, slows your enthusiasm,” he said.
Similarly, Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has selected 3,050 African entrepreneurs from 54 countries to join the fifth cycle of its $100 million TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
The selected entrepreneurs each received non-refundable $5,000 of seed capital (which amounts to $15.25 million in total), access to mentors, and a 12-week business training programme, directly focused on the needs of African entrepreneurs.
This year, more than 216,000 applications were received, an increase from last year’s 151,000. Nearly 90,000 were submitted by female entrepreneurs, an increase of 45 percent, illustrating the Foundation’s strategy to achieve greater gender balance.
