From right to left; Toyin Cameron [Public manager of Sasol], Walter Emiedafe [CEO Sapient Vendors], Ayo Aderibigbe [COO of Bells Oil and Gas] @ NSACC May Breakfast Meeting 2015
Sapient Vendors LTD is a corporate member of the Nigeria-South African Chamber of Commerce, and were invited to participate in the just concluded May breakfast meeting held Yesterday, 14th May 2015 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos Nigeria. Below is the highlight of the meeting as reported by WebTv Nigeria, who officially covered the event.
Two critical sectors in Nigeria Power and Education, were the central focus of discourse at the May edition of the Nigeria-South African Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting. Considering the challenges in these sectors and the need for strategic steps to be taken, to move them forward; the business meeting afforded stakeholders the opportunity to gain insight from experts.
The keynote speakers Dr Ijeoma Nwagwu Centre Manager, LBS/FirstBank Sustainability Centre and Mr Tunde Gbajumo CEO Symbion Power, engaged on critical topics ‘Educating for Employment’ and ‘Privatizing the Power Sector’.
In her presentation Dr Nwagwu noted that there were contradictions in the ‘Africa Rising’, as its projected growth of 5% was a ‘Jobless Growth’. She decried the fact that the education sector reforms in Nigeria, guaranteed more access but less quality in structure and output, even with a high ‘out of school children’ statistics.
Giving her intervention, Nwagwu called for a strategic private sector intervention through the areas of providing infrastructure for job creation, partnerships with institutions of higher learning, strategic business programs and skills development.
On the government side, she stressed the need for consistency in policy direction and the political will to implement effective programs that will create the enabler for an instrumental education system.
Speaking on the power sector, Mr Gbajumo acknowledged that the privatization of all the PHCN assets in 2013, was a remarkable step taken by the Federal government. He however identified gas supply as a major challenge at the moment that needs to be resolved, coupled with the critical transition market phase in the process.
The power expert highlighted the critical issues in the sector to include; tariff adjustment, bulk trader capitalization, guarantees of investment and the gas supply framework to NIPPs.
For critics of the privatization process, who are lamenting the generation level that is yet to exceed 4,500mw, Gbajumo urged them to be patient as the whole restructuring of the sector by private intervention was a work in progress.
The Symbion Nigeria CEO also intimated the business community, that the propose sale of the National Independent Power Plants by the Federal Government had been postponed to January,2016, with a projected $5bl profit.
