Businesses across several regions in Nigeria have expressed concerns following the epileptic supply of power, which has forced many to rely on alternative sources of energy.
They however lamented that the alternatives are expensive, unsustainable, and constitute a threat to their continued survival.
Recall that Nigeria witnessed another round of blackouts across the country on Sunday the 4th of February 2024, as the national power grid collapsed again, making it the first grid collapse this year.
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At around 11:51 AM, it was reported that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) grid went down. As a result, the system’s capacity dropped from 2,407 megawatts to just 31MW by midday and to zero by 1 PM.
The constant collapse of the national grid is a significant setback that has continued to pose a serious threat to Nigeria’s economy and development. Due to the incessant power outages, Nigeria is estimated to lose billions of dollars annually.
The outages also harm the quality of life of Nigerians, making it difficult for people to work, study, and run their businesses. While the different distribution companies (DisCos), have given different reasons in the last few weeks to explain the continued drop in power supply to businesses and homes, industries are suffering, as they are forced to rely on diesel and petrol-powered generators to sustain production.
This challenging situation has also forced several companies to lay off some members of their workforce and cut down drastically on production. Most of these businesses are worried that if the situation does not improve, they would be forced to completely halt production.
Speaking on the issue, immediate past chairperson Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Apapa branch, Frank Ike Onyebu, stated that despite operating in an industrial estate, the power situation has degenerated so badly. He added that it was not surprising however as this is the dry season but lamented that the outages were too frequent and sometimes, last days.
In his words,
“We have come to accept that 24/7 electricity is a distant dream but what we are getting now is 7/24, seven hours in 24 if we are lucky as it is often less than that. Generation and transmission, in particular, is still very poor despite all the reforms the government claims to have carried out in the sector.
“Most of the transmission and distribution lines inherited from the defunct NEPA by the DisCos are still in use and sadly they are all obsolete. Which is why when there is a break somewhere or wind blows, the light goes off for hours or even days.”
It is worth noting that Nigeria has struggled with poor power supply for decades, a challenge that is estimated to cost businesses about $29 billion yearly, according to the World Bank.
Also, according to the Energy Progress Report 2022 released by Tracking SDG 7, the country had the lowest access to electricity globally, with about 92 million persons out of the country’s 200 million population lacking access to power.