Nigeria’s FCMB Commits $400 million To Power Sector

Nigeria’s First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Group plans to invest $200 million in the country’s power sector as it seeks to support private investors in the critical sector.  According to Tolu Osinibi, executive director of the investment banking subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc, FCMB Capital Market Limited, more than $400 million had been committed to power sector financing by the Group.  He described as very broad, the Group’s commitment to Nigeria’s power sector, noting that “ultimately it is about national development”.

“Nobody from outside Nigeria is going to come and fix the power sector for us,” added Osinibi, on the sidelines of the Power Investors’ Summit Nigeria held in Lagos at the weekend.  He also expressed the need for everyone with the financial muscle and skills to play a part in the growth of the sector in order to position it where it should be, adding that FCMB’s focus was that it can build a larger market for itself by allocating resources to the power sector to help its growth.

The FCMB Capital Market Limited chief further enumerated the importance of the sector. He also lauded the recent privatization of the sector, which he said would have great economic effects in several ways, especially in the creation of jobs.  Having recognized the importance of the power sector, Osinibi said the Group would put its money into the best transactions, adding, according to a report by local news platform BusinessDay, that the company would seek to identify firms whose plans are long-term; in line with FCMB’s beliefs, and would do employ its expertise in helping them meet their objectives.

As at February 2014, banks in Nigeria had invested $4.5 billion in the country’s power sector and had expressed readiness to commit more following the government’s disclosure that the sector would need about $2.9 trillion for infrastructural development in the next 30 years.  More investments are expected in the sector, as the new private owners put up structures that will make investing in it “good business” for the investors.

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