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dam-l Nigeria won't rush privatization/LS re: water etc privatization
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From owner-irn-safrica@igc.org Fri Oct 22 18:50:36 1999
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Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 15:45:42 -0700
From: lori@irn.org (Lori Pottinger)
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Subject: Nigeria won't rush privatization/LS
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Nigeria Says Privatisation Will Not Be Rushed
October 22, 1999
Felix 'Machi Njoku, PANA Correspondent
DAKAR, Senegal (PANA) The Nigerian government has rejected calls for the
speedy liquidation of loss-making state enterprises, saying it would
take its time and try to achieve transparent and worthwhile privatisation.
"I think those who are pushing for short time frames (in privatisation) are
going to be disappointed," the industry minister, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, told
PANA.
Ayu, who is attending the conference of African industry ministers in
Dakar, said the government would only implement privatisation and other
policies that would benefit the people during its four-year tenure.
Multilateral finance institutions and donors have urged the Nigerian
government to sell off a host of loss-making firms in such areas as
petroleum and
gas, mining, electricity, water and telecommunications, among others, worth
billions of US dollars.
They have argued that this should form the bases of a restructuring
exercise aimed at reviving the ailing economy which has been twisted out of
focus
by more than 15 years of uninterrupted military dictatorship.
On assumption of office 29 May, President Olusegun Obasanjo cancelled sales
of some of the firms and oil concessions, saying the deals were not
transparent.
Ayu, who briefly served as Senate president and minister of education in
the past, said experience has shown that privatisation is not something
that
should be rushed.
"It has intricate mechanisms. You have to go through certain processes or
evaluation to actually know what you are even privatising," he explained.
"We also have to look at those investors who are buying the industries
because it is not just a question of somebody buying them and leaving them
dormant," he added. "We want to make sure that anybody buying them has to
inject the necessary capital and technical know-how that would
jump-start these industries and therefore produce to add value to the economy."
The minister urged potential investors to be patient, saying the government
was only trying to be very meticulous, to make sure that the process of
privatisation is transparent and able to launch the country on the path of
sustainable development.
On the industrial focus of the government, Ayu said the first priority
would be to create the necessary enabling environment for industrialists to
operate.
Then it would look at both the macro and micro policies as well as the
legal impediments to investment and industrial production.
"We are also trying to improve infrastructure, energy, telecom,
transportation - which are very necessary for the development of
industries," he
stressed.
He said the government has signed a number of bilateral agreements that
protect foreign investments in the country.
It is also moving toward resuscitation of strategic industries such as the
iron and steel industry, petrochemicals, fertiliser and paper companies
which
are strategic to the survival of the economy.
"I am very sure Ajaokuta (steel) mill will be ready in less than four years
time," he said, referring to the completion of multi-billion mill in the
north-western part of the country being built by Russian engineers since
the mid-1970s.
On the outcome of the Dakar meeting on 'Industrial Partnership and
Investment in Africa', Ayu said it has portrayed the willingness and
readiness of
African countries to team up to be able to face the daunting challenges of
globalisation.
This site is part of AFRICA NEWS ONLINE.
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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