The Chairman of Transcorp Group, Tony Elumelu, has stated that Nigeria’s goal of building a $1 trillion economy cannot be achieved without addressing the pressing issues in the country’s electricity sector.

Speaking at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Abuja on wednesday, Elumelu emphasized that reliable power is the most crucial factor in transforming the Nigerian economy, especially as the nation seeks to boost contributions from the non-oil sector.

“I want to use this opportunity to reiterate that access to electricity remains the single most critical factor in fixing the Nigerian economy, especially as we seek to have the non-oil sector make greater contributions to our economy.

“We must, therefore, fix power to fix and transform Nigeria. We know that to grow a $1tn economy, electricity must be fixed. That is not the case today,” he said.

Elumelu pointed out that despite President Bola Tinubu’s directive last year to eliminate all obstacles in the power sector, the implementation has been slow.

“The president directed last year that all impediments to the power sector should be removed. But I’m afraid to say that critical people who should help to see the president’s vision come alive are afraid to do so. May I use this opportunity to call on them to help translate the President’s initiative idea into action?” he stated.

Elumelu also expressed concern over the significant debts owed to Transcorp by the Federal Government for electricity supplied to the national grid.

According to him, the government currently owes the group over N600bn.

“As of date, our Federal Government owes your company over N600bn. That is $400m,” he said. “Much as we, patriotic Nigerian investors, are committed to supporting the efforts of the Federal Government in fixing the economy, we have a rather excruciating burden of subsidising the sector. It requires urgent attention.”

Elumelu recognized the current administration’s efforts to tackle liquidity issues in the power sector, such as the Presidential Metering Initiative and transmission reforms.

However, he stressed that swift implementation is crucial to prevent further decline.

Despite these challenges, Elumelu announced significant growth within the Transcorp Group.

Elumelu revealed that Transcorp PLC’s market capitalization had grown to over N4.5 trillion, up from less than N20 billion in 2011 when his group took over the company.

“When we took over this company in 2011, the market cap of Transcorp was actually N2bn. Today, the group market cap is over N4.5 tn,” he said.

He added that since the takeover, the company has consistently paid dividends, declaring N1 per share for the 2024 financial year.

“By the time we took over the company in 2011, they had not paid dividends one day. But since we took over the company, we have consistently paid dividends to shareholders. We have declared one Naira dividend for 2024. And 2025 will definitely be better than 2024,” he said.

Elumelu noted that Transcorp Power now has a market value exceeding N2.7 trillion and has fully repaid its $215 million FX acquisition loan in 2024.

“When we say that Transcorp is about transforming lives, improving lives and transforming Nigeria and Africa, it is based on the role we play in catalysing development. Power is critical for the development of every economy,” he said.