Chairman of Transcorp Nigeria Plc, and United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu has pledged to invest as much as $2.5 billion in power projects across Nigeria
Elumelu revealed that investments in the power sector will be made through Transcorp Power Ltd, a subsidiary company.
While the investment time frame was not given, Elumelu said the company is ready to “spend a lot of money” on the 987MW capacity Afam Power Plant which is up for privatisation.
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It will be recalled that, 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.
According to Elumelu, if Transcorp Power successfully acquires the facility, the firm’s daily power output will increase by 700MW, adding 1400MW to the national grid.
“We’ve 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.
Commenting on a N90 billion naira debt owed Transcorp Power, Elumelu said such has the tendency to hamper growth in the sector.
“If they’re owing you that kind of money, it affects your ability to do more and more importantly, slows your enthusiasm,” he said.