The Federal Government yesterday added N54.5billion ($350m) for the Nigerian Electricity Bulk Trading Plc (NBET) to boost the organisation’s power purchase abilities in the sector.
This was disclosed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minster of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, at the headquarters of NBET in Abuja prior to a meeting with board members of the bulk
trader.
Iweala said, “The bulk trader has just been very well reformed to be able to carry out its intermediary market role in the power sector.”
“The bulk trader, in addition to the resources that they had from the budget, has also received $350m as a liquidity facility which is being managed for it by the Sovereign Wealth Fund,” Iweala said.
She explained that the $350m was fresh from the Eurobond and was given to the sovereign fund to manage and generate interest.
Giving the essence of the board meeting Okonjo-Iweala said, “We want to catch up on the activities of the bulk trader and we are delighted because the bulk trader has also been working on a very interesting green field project – the Azura Power.”
The minister stated that NBET has been making innovative strategies that could advance the power sector adding that it would be discussed in the meeting.
She further disclose that the sovereign authority was assigned to manage the funds of the bulk trader for the purpose of generating returns to help offset the interest on the loan.
In his response, the Managing Director/CEO, NBET, Mr. Rumundaka Wonodi said the meeting would help the agency formalise many issues in the sector that were yet to be clarified.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
