Chairman of Transcorp Group, Mr Tony Elumelu, has said that Nigeria\u2019s ambition to build a $1tn economy cannot be realised without urgent and sustained efforts to address challenges in the country\u2019s electricity sector.\n<\/p>\n
Elumelu, who spoke on Wednesday at the company\u2019s Annual General Meeting held in Abuja, said access to reliable power remains the single most critical factor in transforming the Nigerian economy, particularly as the country pushes for increased contribution from the non-oil sector.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Elumelu noted that although President Bola Tinubu had directed last year that all impediments to the power sector be removed, the pace of implementation remained slow.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president directed last year that all impediments to the power sector should be removed. But I\u2019m afraid to say that critical people who should help to see the president\u2019s vision come alive are afraid to do so. May I use this opportunity to call on them to help translate the President\u2019s initiative idea into action?\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
Elumelu also raised concerns about the huge debts owed to Transcorp by the Federal Government for electricity supplied to the national grid.<\/p>\n
According to him, the government currently owes the group over N600bn.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAs of date, our Federal Government owes your company over N600bn. That is $400m,\u201d he said. \u201cMuch 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
He acknowledged efforts by the present administration to address liquidity issues in the power sector, including the Presidential Metering Initiative and transmission reforms, but stressed that implementation must be swift to prevent further deterioration.\n<\/p>\n
Despite sectoral challenges, Elumelu announced significant growth within the group.\n<\/p>\n
He disclosed that Transcorp PLC\u2019s market capitalisation had risen to over N4.5tn from less than N20bn in 2011 when his group took over the company.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen 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,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He added that since the takeover, the company has consistently paid dividends, declaring N1 per share for the 2024 financial year.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy 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,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
According to Elumelu, Transcorp Power now has a market value of over N2.7tn and has fully repaid its FX acquisition loan of $215m in 2024.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen 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,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
He also announced the completion of a new 5,000-capacity event centre at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, aimed at positioning Nigeria as a hub for global events.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cRwanda, Dubai, and Kenya have become event centres. So, we want to put your country on that mark. And you have succeeded,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
Elumelu further disclosed that the company was considering expanding into other critical sectors, including agriculture and renewable energy, following recommendations from shareholders.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want us to explore the possibility of going to critical sectors of the economy that will help us to complement what President Bola Tinubu and his government are doing to make life better for everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came back from Israel not too long ago, exploring possibilities about investing in the agriculture sphere. But beyond agriculture, we\u2019re interested in renewable energy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
He concluded with a message to the investing public: \u201cTo shareholders of Transcorp, they are very excited. And to the investment public, it\u2019s time to come on board and enjoy what our shareholders are already having.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The President and Group CEO of Transnational Corporation Plc (also known as Transcorp Group), Dr Owen Omogiafo, stressed the firm\u2019s commitment to excellence and innovation.\n<\/p>\n
She noted that the firm is exploring strategic diversification into agriculture, targeting high-impact opportunities.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chairman of Transcorp Group, Mr Tony Elumelu, has said that Nigeria\u2019s ambition to build a $1tn economy cannot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3090],"tags":[4543,4544,51,4545,1700,1312,4546,4547,4548,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-7377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-1tn-economy","9":"tag-annual-general-meeting","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-chairman-of-transcorp-group","12":"tag-economy","13":"tag-electricity","14":"tag-fix-electricity","15":"tag-mr-tony-elumelu","16":"tag-tony-elumelu","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114312755474643424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}