The Bureau of Public Enterprises has announced plans to sell the remaining 40% of the government's shares in electricity distribution companies on the capital market in 2024.
It reveals that the Bureau of Public Enterprises stated it may also take four other assets to the market next year. The director-general of BPE, Mr Alex Okoh, disclosed this plan during a media chat in Abuja on Tuesday.
The other assets include Nigeria Re-Insurance, Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited, Nicon Insurance, and Nigeria Machine Tools in Osogbo.
It was reported that the BPE had sold 60% of the Federal Governprivatizing in five enterprises to core investors, leaving the government with just 40%.
Mr Okoh said that the primary purpose of the government privatizing a part of Discos was to list its 40% on the stock market to democratize its ownership to more Nigerians, not just a core group of investors.
He said,
- One of the original intentions of the partial privatization of the Discos was to list the 40% that the government still holds in the stock market. And in that way, you are democratizing the ownership of these government entities.
He added,
- So, the capital market, yes, once we resolve the 40% ownership in the Discos. We also plan to take Eleme Petrochemicals to the capital market. We had also planned to take Nigerian Re-Insurance and Nicon Insurance to the capital market. Still, we started needing help with the former core investor, Jimoh Ibrahim.