An article by Pallavi Roy, SOAS-ACE Research Director, in the Nigerian magazine Empower, draws on ACE research in the power sector in Nigeria, looking for feasible solutions to address the dysfunction which is leaving many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) high and dry.
Nigeria’s power privatisation programme has been dogged by perceptions that the oligopolistic and high stakes nature of the sector has attracted big investors whose interest may not necessarily be in turning the sector around. Pallavi explores emerging ACE research suggesting that building a coalition of SMEs, who are willing to pay for regular, reliable access to power, could be a solution. She argues that side-stepping the inefficient and unreliable main grid, to devise off-grid solutions for SME consumers should be prioritised to help catalyse a virtuous cycle for Nigerian manufacturing which is an essential precondition for more ambitious reforms of the electricity sector.
