Nigeria’s National Council on Privatisation (NCP) has approved a request by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to proceed with the engagement of Transcorp Power Consortium to ensure full execution of the Performance Agreements (PAs) governing the sale of Afam Power Plc and Afam III Fast Power Limited.
According to a statement from the presidency on Friday, the approval aims to regularise outstanding conditions and operational targets under ...-acquisition plan, ensuring the commercial viability of the Afam plant.
The sale to the Transcorp Consortium had been concluded in November 2020, but the federal government delayed the finalisation as it was required to execute the performance agreement, which outline the investor’s commitments, including increased operational capacity within a defined timeframe.
Presenting the memo to the NCP at its third meeting of 2025, Director-General of the BPE, Mr Ayo Gbeleyi, disclosed that the Federal Government had completed the sale process, with N53.9 billion received as privatisation proceeds.
He added that although the asset was handed over to Transcorp Power Consortium, the government restructured the transaction earlier this year, necessitating the execution of the performance agreements.
With this approval, the BPE can now begin mandatory post-privatisation monitoring of the investor’s performance obligations. Gbeleyi also briefed the Council on the BPE’s achievements in 2025, including the unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) into the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) and the Transmission Service Provider (TSP).
Chairing the meeting, Vice President Kashim Shettima emphasised the need for a decisive shift in Nigeria’s privatisation strategy, from merely selling state-owned enterprises to optimising national assets for economic growth.
He said this direction is essential for powering Nigeria’s ambition to become a $1 trillion economy by 2030, stressing that the NCP must serve as the nation’s economic compass and provide discipline, vision, and guidance for policymaking.
Mr Shettima described Nigeria’s underutilised assets such as lands laying fallow, dormant real estate, and intellectual property as an immense reservoir of untapped wealth.
He called for bureaucratic efficiency, commercial agility, and the removal of bottlenecks that burden the government with the costs of subsidising inefficient state-owned enterprises.
To drive asset optimisation, the Vice President instructed the Council to explore modern economic models such as long-term concessions, asset-backed securitisation, and investor-led benchmarks.
Mr Shettima also warned against transaction irregularities, insisting on zero tolerance for ambiguities that could trigger disputes, while reinforcing Nigeria’s commitment to transparency for the international investment community.
On his part, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, commended the BPE for its dedication to quality and best practices. Other contributors at the meeting included the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Atiku Bagudu; Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi; and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Yemi Cardoso.