Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
For the first time since the inception of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), an award program has been established to recognize achievements in the power sector while also advocating for its continued growth and development.
The Nigeria Power Sector Awards Limited will host the inaugural edition of the NESI’s premier award program on November 23, 2022, in Abuja.
The awards aim to achieve three broad objectives, according to the organisers, who announced the program in a statement issued yesterday and signed by the Director of Marketing and Sponsorship, Racheal Salehu. These are listed to reward and incentivize organizations and individuals who have made measurable contributions to the sector’s improvement, growth, and progress.
The award would also catalyze further improvements, growth, innovation, and progress in the power sector; and to transparently highlight the improvements and growth achieved within the power sector in order to change the negative public opinion about the power sector, which has become a hindrance and constraint in attracting much needed long-term investments in the power sector.
According to the organizers, the program will recognize and reward deserving public and private organizations and individuals from across the entire NESI value chain and the renewable energy/off-grid sector.
It stated that the award would shine a light on the organizations’ and individuals’ innovation, growth, and progress, highlighting their efforts and achievements in the power sector since the completion of the power sector privatisation.
Furthermore, the power sector awards, according to the statement, would provide a unique networking platform, stimulate top-level interactions, and deepen collaborations within the power sector.
“The awards will bring together key stakeholders, top-level state government officials involved in the power sector at sub-national levels, top officials from Nigeria’s power and energy sector, ministers and top government officials in power sector ministries and regulatory organizations, top level members of the National Assembly, banks, financial institutions, development finance institutions, and private equity infrastructure funds with a focus on the power sector.”
The broad award categories, according to the organizers, were designed to highlight and recognize every segment of the NESI, including the Electricity Power Generation Category, the Electricity Distribution Category, the Independent Power Provider of the Year (Captive Generation), the Most Innovative Power Technology Category, the Renewable Energy Category, and the Gas Supply Company of the Year.
Other categories for awards included Transaction/Deal Category, Public Sector Organization of the Year, Development Finance Institution of the Year, Bank/Financial Institution of the Year, Best State Government in the Power Sector, and Lifetime Achievement Awards.
The statement also stated that a posthumous award would be given to Late Engr. Joseph Makoju, whose contributions and achievements in the power sector were exceptional in developing the NESI.
Since 2013, the Nigerian power sector has been unbundled and privatized.
However, due to a slew of issues, the power sector has yet to deliver on the promised benefits of privatization in terms of reliable electricity supply.
Despite the NESI’s challenges, the award’s organizers argued that the power sector has made measurable but modest progress and improvements since the privatization was completed.
Maintaining that the sector was on the right track, the award organizers stated that it was unfortunate that the sector’s improvements and progress were frequently overshadowed by challenges.
“We believe it is time to highlight, showcase, and celebrate the improvements and progress made in the power sector thus far through an annual power sector award event.”
“On this basis, we are organizing the Nigeria Power Sector Awards, which we hope will become Nigeria’s premier power sector award event.”
“Nominations for the respective awards are now open and will close on September 30, 2022.”
“In conclusion, we are very excited to recognize the growth in the power sector and are proud to be the pioneers of this extraordinary award event.” Despite the sector’s current challenges, we are determined to celebrate the sector’s modest improvements, progress, and innovative strides every year in order to achieve the goals of power sector privatisation,” the organizers added.
