The Nigerian Government has requested the Marubeni Corporation to invest in the country as there are many opportunities and incentives to encourage investors.
Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo disclosed this recently in an audience with the management of the Japanese company in the State House. He demanded Marubeni Corporation to utilise the opportunities which abound in the country, especially in the gas sector as the Gas Master Plan has many incentives for investors.
Mohammed Sambo asked the management of the company to explore opportunities in the solid minerals sector, noting that the sector has been neglected and Government is working hard to develop it. He also averred that Government is encouraging the private sector to engage in the coal to power project with a huge coal deposit in the country.
“There are opportunities in water supply as diverse cities in the country need water. The Federal Government is building new dams and embarking on the rehabilitation of old ones to enhance water supply, agriculture and electricity,” he said.
Sambo assured that government is venturing into the issue of shortage of gas which he observed has been a problem for the newly built thermal power plants. He also urged the company to invest in this sector, indicating that the price of the product in Nigeria is cheaper than anywhere else in the world and assures good returns on investment.
According to him, the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) has increased and the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is there to bring about balance in the sector. He further noted that gas lines have been linked up to the railways and inland ways to ensure availability of the product, where it was difficult to link up earlier.
“Government will convene a meeting with the Ministers of Finance, Power, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Marubeni Corporation to discuss how to access the 77 billion Yen Credit Loan which the government of Japan is offering Africa,” he stated.
VP Sambo commended the Chinese company for helping in the building of hydro-dams, especially the Mambilla Dam and other dams. He called on Marubeni, a world-class company in Japan to invest in this area, indicating that Government is building over two hundred dams towards achieving ten thousand megawatts of electricity at the end of 2014.
Earlier in a statement, a member of the company’s board, who is the Chairman of the Special Committee for Sub-Saharan Africa in charge of Machinery Group, Shigerm Yamazoe espoused that Marubeni Corporation is a trading company consisting of twelve business segments, each of which has specialised business areas, namely: food group, energy and chemicals, metal and mineral resources, machinery and lifestyle, forest products, ICT and realty group.
He also noted that the company is an independent power producer and developer of global power assets which has engaged in power activities in fifty countries with a strong base in Africa.
In his briefing, the Supervisor of the company in Nigeria, Takeshi Mamiya inferred that Marubeni Corporation has engaged in some NIPP Projects in the country such as the Kainji 440 megawatts hydro project; the Jebba 540 megawatts hydro project; the Egbin P/S 1,320 megawatts thermal project and the NIPP projects in Sapele, Delta State, Ihovbo and Calabar among others.
Takeshi Mamiya continued that the mechanical works on Lot 1 covering Calabar, Lot 3 covering Ihovbor and Lot 6 in Sapele have been completed; pointing at existing challenges in the transmission line and non-payment of an outstanding $12.8 million which he accrued to lack of approval by the Bureau of Public Enterprises and shortage of gas.
Federal Republic of Nigeria Press Release
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