In April, Siemens (SI) signed an agreement with Scanpower, a Nigerian company, to build a 1,600-megawatt power plant in Lagos. “As one of the fastest-growing megacities in the world, Lagos is seeking a significant improvement in its power supply,” says Michael Suess, the head of Siemens’s energy business.

Dangote Cement (DANGCEM), Africa’s biggest supplier, is building a 3 million-ton plant in Calabar, Nigeria’s southeastern seaport; that cement can go into home construction. Brewer SABMiller (SAB) is planning a $100 million plant in Onitsha, in the southeast.

Strife-Torn Nigeria Is an Investment Magnet
By Chris Kay and Maram Mazen
April 26, 2012 

 
Nigerian troops wield AK-47s at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja in the capital, while security guards scan for car bombs at the hotel’s entry checkpoints, snarling traffic. Down the road, police block access to Holy Trinity Catholic church on Sundays as worshipers congregate.

Nigerians have been living with high security alerts since attacks by an Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, intensified with a suicide bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Abuja in August. 

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a surge in gun and bomb attacks, including a Christmas Day bombing of a church in an Abuja suburb and multiple blasts on Jan. 20 in the northern city of Kano that killed about 256 people. The group, whose name means “Western education is a sin,” seeks to impose strict Muslim law on the country. 

The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria warned American citizens on April 17 that Boko Haram may be planning more attacks in the capital.
Yet economic statistics do not portray a country in the grip of a national emergency. Nigerian Eurobonds are so popular that their yield is near a record low. The currency, the naira, is Africa’s second-strongest performer against the dollar this year. The economy is expected to grow 7.1 percent in 2012.

Just as important, foreign and local investors seem unfazed by Boko Haram’s violence. The attacks have been isolated to Abuja and northern states, home to the Muslim population and a Christian minority, while oil facilities and the commercial hub of Lagos in the south have been undisturbed.

“The latest escalation of Boko Haram’s terror attacks is disturbing from a security perspective,” says Christian Mejrup, an emerging-market portfolio manager at Denmark-based Global Evolution, which holds Nigerian treasury bills. “From an economic perspective they are negligible, since they are still isolated to the northern part of Nigeria.” The 17 southern states, which cover one-fifth of Nigeria, produce about two-thirds of the growth. “All the sectors that are growing fastest are in the south,” says Jude Uzonwanne, head of the Nigeria office of Cambridge (Mass.) investment adviser Monitor Group. “The north’s economy is still geared towards subsistence agriculture.”

The multinationals want to stake out territory in a country of 160 million whose population is growing 2.5 percent a year. That translates into a need for more electricity, more houses, and more food and drink.

Nestlé is boosting the capacity of its local plants to make food seasoning, chocolate malt, and cereal. “There’s huge potential still, and on top of that the population growth is just staggering,” says Martin Woolnough, chief executive officer of Nestlé in Nigeria. Standard Chartered CEO Peter Sands said in March that Nigeria is the bank’s biggest business out of the 15 African countries it operates in. “We’re in Nigeria with a huge population and a rapidly growing economy,” he said. 

In April, Siemens signed an agreement with Scanpower, a Nigerian company, to build a 1,600-megawatt power plant in Lagos. “As one of the fastest-growing megacities in the world, Lagos is seeking a significant improvement in its power supply,” says Michael Suess, the head of Siemens’s energy business.

 Dangote Cement, Africa’s biggest supplier, is building a 3 million-ton plant in Calabar, Nigeria’s southeastern seaport; that cement can go into home construction. Brewer SABMiller is planning a $100 million plant in Onitsha, in the southeast.[/b]

The north is not sharing in the bounty. United Nigeria Textiles and other textile makers, once thriving foreign currency earners for Nigeria, have shut mills in the north amid competition from China and other Asian producers. About 74 percent of Nigerians in the north live in poverty, compared with 63 percent in the south, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. 

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in January declared a state of emergency in parts of the north, where Boko Haram, inspired by Afghanistan’s Taliban, has told Christians to leave. The government is “on top of” the threat, Jonathan said recently. Nigeria is “a safe place for investment. We are a stable country.”

Boko Haram’s reach may yet extend to the south, as it has already attacked centrally located Abuja, says Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, managing director of New York-based DaMina Advisors, which focuses on frontier investments. “It may be only a matter of time before Lagos is attacked,” he says.

The split in development between the north and the south may cause serious trouble someday for Nigeria. For now, it’s just one more business risk.

The 17 southern states, which cover one-fifth of Nigeria, produce about two-thirds of the growth. “All the sectors that are growing fastest are in the south,” says Jude Uzonwanne, head of the Nigeria office of Cambridge (Mass.) investment adviser Monitor Group. “The north’s economy is still geared towards subsistence agriculture.”

The north is not sharing in the bounty. United Nigeria Textiles and other textile makers, once thriving foreign currency earners for Nigeria, have shut mills in the north amid competition from China and other Asian producers. About 74 percent of Nigerians in the north live in poverty, compared with 63 percent in the south, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in January declared a state of emergency in parts of the north, where Boko Haram, inspired by Afghanistan’s Taliban, has told Christians to leave. The government is “on top of” the threat, Jonathan said recently. Nigeria is “a safe place for investment. We are a stable country.”

Boko Haram’s reach may yet extend to the south, as it has already attacked centrally located Abuja, says Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, managing director of New York-based DaMina Advisors, which focuses on frontier investments. “It may be only a matter of time before Lagos is attacked,” he says. The split in development between the north and the south may cause serious trouble someday for Nigeria. For now, it’s just one more business risk.

“The latest escalation of Boko Haram’s terror attacks is disturbing from a security perspective,” says Christian Mejrup, an emerging-market portfolio manager at Denmark-based Global Evolution, which holds Nigerian treasury bills. “From an economic perspective they are negligible, since they are still isolated to the northern part of Nigeria.” The 17 southern states, which cover one-fifth of Nigeria, produce about two-thirds of the growth. “All the sectors that are growing fastest are in the south,” says Jude Uzonwanne, head of the Nigeria office of Cambridge (Mass.) investment adviser Monitor Group. “The north’s economy is still geared towards subsistence agriculture.”

United Nigeria Textiles and other textile makers, once thriving foreign currency earners for Nigeria, have shut mills in the north amid competition from China and other Asian producers.

Kilode?!:
Eko-Ile thanks for the link.




No reason why any Northerner should vote any of their leaders currently in political office back to power in the next election.

I will rather shoot myself in the head than thumbprint the name or face of someone whose action and inaction has led to the death of so many and poverty of millions of my people.

Leaders must be punished, laggards must be held accountable, that is the only way this democracy can work for your people.

ekt_bear: OK, article doesn't make it clear.

Hopefully this is some sort of private arrangement between Lagos State and Siemens. That 1600 MW needs to go to Lagos State.

One of the two regulations, titled, “NERC Regulation on Embedded Generation 2012,” and issued on March 7, 2012, permits investors, communities, states and local governments to generate and distribute electricity for their exclusive consumption using facilities of existing electricity distribution companies or independent electricity distribution network operators.

Another regulation, issued on the same day, titled, “NERC Regulation for Independent Electricity Distribution,” permits communities, local and state governments to invest in electricity distribution networks in areas without access to the grid or distribution network or areas poorly serviced.

Thus, state governments with investments in infrastructure for power generation and distribution can now begin to distribute electricity.

Also, according to the new regulations, states and local governments with enough financial capability, can now take fuller advantage of the regulations to provide adequate power for their constituents.


http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-deregulates-electricity-%E2%80%A2local-govts-communities-can-now-generate-distribute-electricity-nerc/

wesley80:

You wish. Power is still an exclusive FG venture and whatever you generate MUST be fed into the national grid, its a non issue as things stand. A gas plant in my part of the country is reputed to be the biggest in terms of generation volume but the entire power generated is evacuated to Anambra state where it is stepped down and fed into the national grid. Only one community in the entire LG is connected to the so called national grid and we r talking about a gas plant the FG had absolutely no hand in constructing!, even at the recent South South summit, one of the issues raised by the Rivers state governor was the refusal of the FG to grant him "permission to generate power for his people" despite having the means to do so.
I don't mean to take anything away from Fashola but I strongly believe the Lagos state govt had very little hand in this proposed venture and the credit if any, should go to the FG. Power negotiations is simply beyond State govts.

alj harem: Of course I don't see you seeing it from that point of view. Mumu

1. What community is that gives the "Biggest" power generation volume ?. As far as Nigeria is concerned the dams aka Hydroelectric power contributes far more than gas etc turbines. Thus your community has to be in Nigeria state or Ogun/Ondo state.

2. The government has give free hand to each state to provide her own electricity if they can. I do not know what planet you are living in. After all the IPPs you have been hearing

Eko Ile: The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued regulations enabling communities and local governments to generate and distribute electricity within their areas.

Ejiné: Kilode and Dapo, those areas you highlighted are quite pitiful (although not surprising), and speak volumes on the degree of "screwed for life" the North has attained.
And I'm telling you, those points, when combined, should be a REALITY SLAP for any honest Northerner who really cares and means well for his people and geopolitical zone, to sit down and really think their situation over. But unfortunately, the opposite is the case.

What we get here on Nairaland, instead, are the silly childish antics of NDU CHUCKS and ALJ HAREM, who continue to delude themselves, not realizing the clock is ticking heavily against them. Funny or tragic? Have your pick.

What I've come to notice about the Northerners on this forum, no offense, is that they invest all their time scrutinizing and castigating the number 1 office (like life begins and ends with it), giving ZERO attention to their governors who are mercilessly looting and mortgaging their already barren future.
The other day, Jonathan commissioned an Islamic school, and Ndu Chucks was actually rejoicing like a lizard that tumbled down an iroko tree! These people are not ashamed their governors are so powerless, so wretched that the FEDERAL OFFICE had to come down and build a PRIMARY SCHOOL for them, something that should have been the job of their governors and 3rd tier officers! OMG!!!

Million dollar factories are being built in Lagos, Ibadan, Onitsha, Calabar and the rest, while Ndu Chucks is aimlessly opening useless threads threatening (like a market square thug) to blow up Warri and Port Harcourt all because of oil.

Bauchi governor appointed 927 officials to help him loot more effectively, while Ndu Chucks is still dwelling in the past talking about Edwin Clark, thinking he's scoring points!

A heavy duty power plant is being built in Lagos while Boko Haraam is mercilessly crippling the North's already dead economy, blowing it to smithereens, while Alj Harem is FOOLISHLY deluding himself with his dead "Anioma is not Igbo" idiiocy.

When you put all these things together, don't you for a second think, "maybe these Northerners actually deserve their self-imposed predicament"? Because I most certainly feel that way.

Call me a bigot, but I've never seen a people so wretched (pocket, body and soul), so shameless and so BACKWARD like Northern Nigerians!
That is how I see them; and with their consistently disgraceful antics? That's how I'll always see them

naijababe:

Quite a rant there Personally, I see the vast majority of Northerners as victims completely powerless of freeing themselves from the blood sucking creatures they have been cursed with and unless the less ignorant south reach out, I 'm afraid nothing will change from now till thy kingdom come.

@ kilode, I'm sure you know better than to think that the votes that a candidate aspiring to an office in Nigeria gets is a reflection of their abilities or record. My friend, get involved in a bit of grass root politics, it's quite an eye opener.

Ejiné: Kilode and Dapo, those areas you highlighted are quite pitiful (although not surprising), and speak volumes on the degree of "screwed for life" the North has attained.
And I'm telling you, those points, when combined, should be a REALITY SLAP for any honest Northerner who really cares and means well for his people and geopolitical zone, to sit down and really think their situation over. But unfortunately, the opposite is the case.

What we get here on Nairaland, instead, are the silly childish antics of NDU CHUCKS and ALJ HAREM, who continue to delude themselves, not realizing the clock is ticking heavily against them. Funny or tragic? Have your pick.

What I've come to notice about the Northerners on this forum, no offense, is that they invest all their time scrutinizing and castigating the number 1 office (like life begins and ends with it), giving ZERO attention to their governors who are mercilessly looting and mortgaging their already barren future.
The other day, Jonathan commissioned an Islamic school, and Ndu Chucks was actually rejoicing like a lizard that tumbled down an iroko tree! These people are not ashamed their governors are so powerless, so wretched that the FEDERAL OFFICE had to come down and build a PRIMARY SCHOOL for them, something that should have been the job of their governors and 3rd tier officers! OMG!!!

Million dollar factories are being built in Lagos, Ibadan, Onitsha, Calabar and the rest, while Ndu Chucks is aimlessly opening useless threads threatening (like a market square thug) to blow up Warri and Port Harcourt all because of oil.

Bauchi governor appointed 927 officials to help him loot more effectively, while Ndu Chucks is still dwelling in the past talking about Edwin Clark, thinking he's scoring points!

A heavy duty power plant is being built in Lagos while Boko Haraam is mercilessly crippling the North's already dead economy, blowing it to smithereens, while Alj Harem is FOOLISHLY deluding himself with his dead "Anioma is not Igbo" idiiocy.

When you put all these things together, don't you for a second think, "maybe these Northerners actually deserve their self-imposed predicament"? Because I most certainly feel that way.

Call me a bigot, but I've never seen a people so wretched (pocket, body and soul), so shameless and so BACKWARD like Northern Nigerians!
That is how I see them; and with their consistently disgraceful antics? That's how I'll always see them

naijababe:

Quite a rant there Personally, I see the vast majority of Northerners as victims completely powerless of freeing themselves from the blood sucking creatures they have been cursed with and unless the less ignorant south reach out, I 'm afraid nothing will change from now till thy kingdom come.

@ kilode, I'm sure you know better than to think that the votes that a candidate aspiring to an office in Nigeria gets is a reflection of their abilities or record. My friend, get involved in a bit of grass root politics, it's quite an eye opener.

Eko Ile: In the same article.
Food for thought. Danger ahead.

naijababe:

Quite a rant there Personally, I see the vast majority of Northerners as victims completely powerless of freeing themselves from the blood sucking creatures they have been cursed with and unless the less ignorant south reach out, I 'm afraid nothing will change from now till thy kingdom come.

@ kilode, I'm sure you know better than to think that the votes that a candidate aspiring to an office in Nigeria gets is a reflection of their abilities or record. My friend, get involved in a bit of grass root politics, it's quite an eye opener.

coogar:

are opc ready for any boko haram attack in south west nigeria?
it seems boko haram's wrath is spreading fast and they have now reached the middlebelt.
what are the opc members doing currently to prevent an attack? or is it until those
miscreants bomb national stadium before they react?

coogar:

are opc ready for any boko haram attack in south west nigeria?
it seems boko haram's wrath is spreading fast and they have now reached the middlebelt.
what are the opc members doing currently to prevent an attack? or is it until those
miscreants bomb national stadium before they react?