Eno William Eno

Many businesses in Nigeria need electricity to thrive, and the absence of steady electricity has made business owners embrace generators for energy supply. As a result of this, many businesses have crumpled because of the huge amount of money spent on energy. However, this affects not only the growth of the business owners but that of the nation's economy. It will be difficult for the country to achieve any development goal when businesses are not thriving due to poor power supply. The epileptic power supply affects both established businesses and startups, but the only difference is that the established businesses will not collapse because they are deep-rooted, unlike small businesses that are still striving to breathe. The price of petrol hikes daily preventing small business owners from making the profit they ought to make to grow their businesses. Most business owners run into debt trying to run their business with an alternative energy supply. In 2021, the World Bank approved $500 million to support the Nigerian government in refining its electricity distribution sector because of the importance of electricity. According to World Bank, 85 million Nigerians do not have access to grid electricity, and this has made Nigeria the country with the lowest access to energy supply, and electricity access is seen as one of the major limitations for private businesses. Improving access and reliability of power is key to reducing poverty and unlocking economic growth. “The operation will help improve the financial viability of the DISCOs and increase revenues for the whole Nigerian power sector, which is critical to save scarce fiscal resources and create jobs by increasing the productivity of private and public enterprises”. Operation (PSRO) approved in June 2020. Specifically, it will ensure that distribution companies make necessary investments to rehabilitate networks, install electric meters for more accurate customer billing and to improve About 47% of Nigerians do not have access to grid electricity and those who do have access, face regular power cuts. “The lack of reliable power has stifled economic activity and private investment and job creation, which is ultimately what is needed to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty,” The rising unemployment rate and the worsening standard of living will be greatly reduced if Nigerian businesses are thriving. Nigeria needs to make the move now to avoid a situation where things will completely get out of hands Dangote Cement alone incurred N129.97 billion as energy cost in the first six months of this year compared with N98.97 billion in the corresponding period of 2021. Diesel price, which traded at N288.09 per litre on average in January 2022 rose to N774.38 per litre in July this year. This alone represents a 168.8 percent surge in the price of diesel. Over 60 percent of business operating costs go into power generation. Therefore, addressing this major cost component will go a long way to reducing the prices of goods and services in the country. Over 60 percent of business operating costs go into power generation. Therefore, addressing this major cost component will go a long way to reducing the prices of goods and services in the country. The rising unemployment rate and the worsening standard of living will be greatly reduced if Nigerian businesses are thriving. Nigeria needs to make the move now to avoid a situation where things will completely get out of hand. A BusinessDay survey of some Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) of leading Nigerian companies revealed that the over two-fold jump in diesel prices and worsening public power supply had increased operating costs and is expected to impact profit in the first three months of the year. Power accounts for as much as 40 percent of factories’ costs in Nigeria, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. “When your cost of production increases and you are unable to pass it to customers out of fear of lower sales because you have to consider the weak purchasing power in the country, then your bottom line suffers,” said the CFO of another company who was pricing in a 25 percent hit on the Q1 profit of his firm. Nigeria’s solar companies are seeing a surge in demand for mini-grids and equipment as businesses in Africa’s biggest oil producer look for alternative power sources, a Reuters report disclosed. The increased demand became even stronger after the cost of diesel soared locally due to rising global oil prices, it noted. Since they decided to catapult the price of diesel, It’s high time we move to solar, it’s even more reliable than Nepa. I blame the political jargabans, A country that needed 12,500 megawatts has been reduced to a 4,000 MW power supply. How can a country grow without a power supply? For over 2 months there’s been no light in my compound. Generator noise here and there, what a horrible situation to be in. I pity businesses that depend on diesel which is now selling at N800 a litre. Perhaps all these are affecting the poor masses. A N350 loaf of bread is now N700. Where are we going in this country? Shockingly, we spend over $22 billion annually to fuel generators. If that money can be channeled into country development, Nigeria will be heaven to live in.