Nigeria 's Bureau of Public Enterprises, or BPE, has started consulting advisers on the privatization of the 18 firms that make up the Power Holding Company of Nigeria , or PHCN, the bureau said in a statement Tuesday.

Bolanle Onagoruwa, the BPE's director general, said the privatization of the firms--11 power distribution, six power generation and one transmission company--is expected to be completed by May 2011.

Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan announced the full privatization of the PHCN and said generation and distribution of electricity will be handled by the private sector.

He said Nigeria 's transmission grid will still be owned by the federal government but managed by the private sector.

Onagoruwa said the next stage of the reform is to start an electricity market, adding: "The reform involves some level of liberalization, as we will request investors to enter the market for the full privatization of the PHCN."

She said some firms were invited to express interest in receiving requests for proposal, or RFPs, to form an advisory consortium. Such a consortium must have considerable experience of electricity sector project finance and privatization, globally and in Africa , she said.

She said six firms have indicated interest in receiving RFPs--African Finance Corp., CPCS Transcorp, Goldman Sachs/StandbicBTC, IPA Energy, Lazard/UBA and Standard Chartered Bank.

Onagoruwa said RFPs will this week be sent to the companies, which will have five weeks to respond.

Διαβάστε ακόμα