President Bola Tinubu has voiced his dissatisfaction with Nigeria’s current electricity generation capacity, which stands at 4.5 gigawatts, considering the country’s size and potential.
He expressed these concerns while inaugurating a 31-member Presidential Economic Coordination Council at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa in Abuja.
President Tinubu emphasized the urgent need for innovative solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges, highlighting the critical role of public-private partnerships in driving economic reforms.
He stressed the importance of improving the oil and gas sector and increasing electricity generation and distribution across the nation.
“We face a significant challenge in ensuring energy security in Nigeria,” Tinubu stated. “We need to collaborate to enhance our oil and gas sector and boost electricity generation and distribution throughout the country.
It’s embarrassing that a nation of our size is still generating only 4.5 gigawatts of electricity. We must raise our oil production to two million barrels per day in the coming months and eliminate all barriers to investments in the energy sector to enhance competitiveness.”
President Tinubu announced several measures aimed at stabilizing the economy, creating jobs, and fostering economic security.
These measures, part of the Economic Stabilization Programme, include an energy security initiative focused on increasing on-grid electricity from 4.5 gigawatts to 6 gigawatts within six months, boosting oil production to 2 million barrels per day within 12 months, and removing investment barriers in the energy sector.
In the agriculture and food security sector, the programme aims to increase staple crop production by small-holder farmers from 127 million metric tons in 2023 to 135 million metric tons this year.
The plan also includes partnering with larger-scale commercial farmers, supporting qualified farmers with satellite imagery for land use planning, crop rotation, and monitoring agricultural expansion.
For the health and social welfare sector, the programme seeks to make essential medicines available at lower costs for 80-90 million Nigerians and expand healthcare insurance coverage for 1 million vulnerable individuals through a Vulnerable Group Fund in collaboration with state governments.
Additionally, it aims to redeploy 20,000 healthcare workers to provide services to 10-12 million patients in urgently needed areas and power up 4,800 primary healthcare centers and hospitals using renewable energy sources.
On fiscal measures, President Tinubu outlined interventions to improve access to finance for the housing sector, MSMEs, and the manufacturing sector. These interventions include:
1. Support for new and existing youth-owned enterprises across all 36 states, creating 7,400 MSMEs within the next 6-12 months.
2. A N650 billion facility to provide lower-cost short-term loans to youth-owned businesses, manufacturers, and MSMEs in various industries such as food processing, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and wholesale and retail trade.
3. A Manufacturing Stabilization Fund to rejuvenate up to 250 companies and offer lower-cost long-term loans to large, medium-scale, and light manufacturers producing goods for domestic and export markets.
4. A Grow Nigeria Development Fund, consisting of a single-digit interest rate loan portfolio with the Bank of Industry and a matching fund agreement with sub-national governments to grow MSMEs.
5. An expansion of the Bank of Industry’s Rural Development Programme to support rural economies by developing 300 new MSMEs per state, including the Federal Capital Territory, resulting in 11,100 new rural-based MSMEs.
6. A Mortgage Finance Acceleration Facility to deliver affordable housing for those impacted by the cost-of-living challenge, supporting the construction of an additional 25,000 housing units.
These fiscal measures are designed to improve access to finance for MSMEs and create 4.7 million direct and indirect jobs over a six to 12-month period.
