•Keeps identity of companies involved confidential

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is set to take two electricity distribution companies (DisCos) and one generation company (GenCo) to the stock market through Initial Public Offering (IPO).
BPE Director General, Mr. Ayodeji Gbeleyi, disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja, yesterday.
“Today, networks are being considered for IPO. Today, we see that sector potentially a good candidate for an IPO on the Nigerian exchange, and we are currently working on that as well,” he said.
However, he did not name the specific companies slated for the proposed exercise in a bid to maintain corporate confidentiality.
He said, “On the IPOs of potential DisCos and GenCos, at this stage, because of transaction confidentiality, we are not in a position to disclose out of the 11 DisCos, which are the two.
“And we are also unable to disclose the GenCo that is the target for confidentiality and in order not to create anxiety or apprehension; be it on the labour side, be it on the workers’ side, the company or be it on the larger society.”
He also revealed that shareholders’ loan agreements were recently executed for 10 out of the 11 DisCos.
According to him, the disbursement of the loan would begin soon.
On the privatisation of five GenCos, he said the transaction was kept in abeyance because of exchange rate volatility and other factors.
“The transaction is held in abeyance. It was in the middle of the transaction we recorded a massive exchange volatility. When the transaction started in 2021, exchange rate officially was around N450. As at last year, exchange rate was averaging N1,600. Today, it’s N1, 575. So, the fundamentals of the transaction changed along the line. But government is still keeping an eye on it,” he said.
According to Gbeleyi, the GenCos have not keyed into the eligible customer regulation because of transmission challenges.
He added: “An Eligible customer will also need transmission capability. If you produce power in Zungeru and you need to sell power in Egbin Power, there will be transmission infrastructure for you to be able to dispatch your power.
“It is not just the eligible customer but you must also ensure that you have the wheeling infrastructure to deliver that power to that eligible customer.”
Gbeleyi revealed that the core investors of four DisCos remain intact, while seven have been restructured.
The unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) led to the creation of the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) to promote market independence and efficiency, he noted.
On metering, he said from the 403,255 meters recorded in 2013, the industry as at March 31, 2025 had 6,468,036 meter installations.
He gave the breakdown as 3.2 million meters from the $500 million Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP) while 2.5 million meters were from the Presidential Metering Initiative.
The BPE DG said the debate had gone beyond whether to privatise the national refineries, adding that sales, commercialisation and privatisation are based on financial models.
He hinted that BPE was open to whatever model could be the best for the national refineries.
“Nothing is cast in stone on the privatisation of refineries. We are working to achieve the very best for Nigeria.
“These things are all driven by financial models…For us, all it could be is a concessioning process. It could be the Nigerian LNG model. But for us, it is to stop the bleeding and stop the leakages,” stated.
However, he argued that it was not possible to put a figure as to how much the government would raise from the transactions, noting that options of commercialization, privatisation or concessioning could apply.
According to him, the federal government was projected to generate N312.3billion in 2025 from asset sales or privatisation.
He expressed commitment to working towards the realisation of the $1 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) economy, adding that the BPE was working to deliver 50 million jobs in line with the renewed hope agenda.
Nigeria, he said, has a $2.3 trillion infrastructure deficit, an indication that over 23 years, the country will need to spend an average of N100 billion annually.

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