The creation and growth of the state (public) sector of business is designed as an instrument of social control. For a developing country, public enterprises have become a key factor for the planned and balanced growth.
Therefore, there must be a government agency which ensures the smooth running and conversion of enterprises from commercial to private and vice-versa. The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is charged with the overall responsibility of implementing the Nigerian policy on privatization and commercialization. The Bureau of Public Enterprises Implements policies on privatisation and commercialisation and Prepares public enterprises approved for privatisation and commercialisation. The Bureau is a major life-line in the growth of the economy.
It is pertinent to commend President Muhammadu Buhari for putting a round peg in a round hole and for taking the bold and creative approach to infrastructure development in Nigeria.
Also, the Vice President and Chairman of the National Council on Privatization (NCP), Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) has given priceless advice and has unrelentingly committed himself to ensure Nigeria unlocks investment capital into the infrastructure space. This will boost economic development and create jobs at the end.
To the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the level of compliance with the post-acquisition plan by concessionaires in a concession plan is key.
When properly managed, the level of investments and expansion made by the concessionaires in a Public-Private-Partnership arrangement many times run into millions of Dollars, and these facilities will eventually revert to government at the end of the agreed period.
They pay annual lease fees, which if they never default since takeover runs in millions. Meanwhile, concession gives room for these agencies to contribute to the revenue of the Nation and generate employment which adds up to the national treasury
Public enterprises are business organizations wholly or partly owned by the state and controlled through public authorities. Some public enterprises are placed under public ownership because, for social reasons, it is thought the service or product should be provided by a state monopoly.
The BPE is the agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria with responsibility for the reform of State-owned Enterprises in Nigeria through privatization, commercialization and concession.
Public Private Partnerships give room for Speedy, efficient, and cost-effective delivery of projects. It also ensures optimal risk transfer and risk management.
PPP upgrades financing and operation in design, construction, and maintenance of public infrastructure. It also alleviates capacity constraints and bottlenecks in the bureaucratic system.
In addition to the aforementioned advantages of PPP, it ensures accountability in the delivery of public services; as well as effective utilization of state assets to the benefit of all users of members of the public
Evidently so, concession agreement on some public enterprises such as Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Eastern and Western lines of the Railway; as well as a part of Wharf, Apapa Port are pure evidences that PPP works.
Director General of the privatisation agency, Mr. Alex A. Okoh is an Alumnus of Harvard Business School. He was until his appointment in April 2017, the Managing Partner, Ashford & McGuire Consulting Ltd., a leading consulting firm with strong focus on Business Strategy and Transformation, Human Capital Development, and Financial Advisory services.
A consummate Banker and Financial Advisor with over 25years local and international experience in banking and finance. He was Managing Director/CEO of NNB International Bank from January 2001 to December 2005 during which his transformational leadership repositioned the bank as a leading commercial bank in Nigeria.
As part of moves to strengthen its operations, BPE outlined steps with timelines in the next 12 months to two years; to showcase its collective achievements through the implementation of the new Federal Government’s circular on the administration of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the country.
Okoh said the first step involves the engagement with Key Ministries, Departments and Agencies to workout modalities for implementing the FGN circular.
In the first quarter of 2021, the Bureau intends to develop and circulate a template that would enable MDAs to document all the ongoing PPP transactions and their current status and that the Bureau, working together with the MDAs, would host two additional webinars in the first quarter of next year.
According to the Director General, BPE will also target local and foreign construction companies, infrastructure management companies and other investors who are global players in the delivery of infrastructure through PPP arrangements.
In the second quarter of next year, the update or development of Nigeria’s pipeline of PPP projects would be finalised and launched, thus, signaling the commencement of the procurement phase of individual PPP projects across the country.
“Also in the second quarter, a webinar will be held for Governors and other sub-national leaders to obtain their buy-in given that they are critical stakeholders in the delivery of infrastructure” and that the last step would lead to the establishment of Transaction Implementation Committees (TIC) where each Transaction Implementation Committee will be established with membership drawn from the Bureau of Public Enterprises and relevant MDAs in the third quarter, with the mandate to deliver specific projects contained in the approved national project pipeline.
In the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic, BPE said it was developing a framework to reform the healthcare sector with a combination of tentative, measured and unmeasured initiatives. This was part of efforts to curtail the global coronavirus pandemic ravaging businesses in the country.
The reform is done through the provision of universal access to decent and comprehensive healthcare delivery systems at little or no cost to the citizen.
Committed to the development of Nigeria, Okoh mobilized both officially and privately to enable a support structure of a supply chain. He said he wanted to ensure that basic requirements are delivered to some of the vulnerable groups in his locality.
BPE played a major role in resolving the crisis rocking the ownership of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC). It has been in different closed-door meetings with CEC Africa Investments Limited (CECA), and Xerxes Global Investment Limited on an alleged breach of a $41 million funding agreement for acquiring the DisCo in 2013.
The Bureau reform structure and privatisation process envisages the listing of privatised enterprises as their final outcome. It is ensuring that privatised government entities are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Although this assertion has raised concerns on the stability and the prospects of realising good value for the firms via listing, it is believed that this will increase the number of listings on the stock exchange.
