Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu’s Transnational Corp. of Nigeria Plc was named the preferred bidder for Afam Electricity Generation Co. with a 105.3 billion-naira ($293-million) bid, amid plans to increase generation in the electricity-starved nation.
Transcorp, owned by United Bank of Africa Chairman Elumelu, was successful with its offer for Afam, which operates a natural-gas fired power plant in Nigeria’s southern Rivers state, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Elumelu said in March that he plans to invest as much as $2.5 billion in power projects in the West African nation, the continent’s biggest oil producer.
Nigeria broke up its state-owned power monopoly in 2013 and began selling distribution units and the hydro- and natural gas-powered plants it ran to attract investment needed to expand supplies. Companies including Transcorp, Korea National Electric Co. and Forte Oil Plc have paid more than $3 billion for controlling interests in 15 power generators and distributors.
Africa’s most populous nation, with almost 200 million people, struggles with an intermittent power supply, which has impeded economic development for decades.
Quest Electricity won the bidding for a 60 percent stake in Yola Electricity Distribution Plc with a bid of 19 billion naira, Lagos-based ThisDay newspaper reported, citing Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises.
