OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Friday 3.00pm.
THE Nigerian government will privatise the state-run telecommunications company NITEL and parts of the state power company NEPA between 2000 and 2001, Finance Minister Adamu Ciroma has said.
This comes as Lagos Stock Exchange president Goodie Ibru suggests floating parastatal shares on the exchange to boost liquidity in the economy and draw in foreign investment.
The plan marks the first time the new civilian government has set a date for the privatisation of all or part of the two major state companies slated for privatisation. Speaking to Nigerian reporters at the Lagos Stock Exchange on Thursday, Ciroma said work remains to be done on properly valuing the two companies before any privatisation can be undertaken.
“Everybody is expecting NEPA and NITEL to be privatised. But we need to do detailed work before they are put up for sale,” he said. “Investors are not foolish in the way they invest their money. There is the need for a detailed evaluation of these institutions to attract investors.”
However Ciroma reiterated that the sale will go ahead. “I assure you that NITEL and some aspects of NEPA will be privatised between the year 2000 and 2001,” he said.
Ciroma said on Thursday the government stands to realise some 13 billion naira ($137-million) from the first stage of the programme — the sale of its shares in the quoted cement firms, petroleum companies and banks. This will be completed by December, he confirmed.
Exchange president Ibru said at the official commissioning of a new Automated Trading System on the exchange that liquidity remains a problem for the emerging market. The anticipated sales of parastatals can only improve this situation.
Foreign investors have recently taken a greater interest in the exchange but do not have the depth of quoted companies in which to invest, he said. “What are they going to buy when they come? Less than 30% of shares in the market are tradeable while the other 70% are in the hands of institutional investors who are not ready to sell them,” he said.