Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 14)

Power sector analysis shows an increase in power generated by 15.5 percent from 3639.2 megawatt to a peak of 4196.2 megawatt between April 22, 2016 and April 29, 201612, albeit a sharp fall to 25.2 megawatts on April 23, 2016 following a system collapse13. In a bid to attain the targeted 10,000 megawatts by 2019, the Federal Government is set to complete the ongoing 47 power transmission projects across the country, which would boost power supply14. However, the delays in passing the budget into law is a major constraint to the completion of the projects. Thus government needs to speed-up the passage of the 2016 budget to provide the funds to complete the projects.

Available data from the National Bureau of Statistics indicates a decline in oil and other petroleum production between 2015 and 2016. Crude oil production fell by 16 percent, from 777.5 million barrels in 2015 to 656.8 million barrels in 2016. This is also indicative of the number of exploratory rig count that fell from 15 rigs to 8 rigs in 2016. Similarly, Gas production declined by 10 percent to 2,711 million one thousand standard cubic feet (mscf) in 2016. The significant decline in crude oil and petroleum production, brings to perspective the extent of the damage caused on production pipelines by militants in the Niger Delta region in 2016. It is therefore important to invest national resources in maintaining domestic peace and security, especially in resource-rich regions of the country.