Firms in Nigeria have identified perceived constraints to doing business and investing in the country and poor power supply tops the list. The survey was conducted by the Enterprise Analysis Unit (FPDEA) of the World Bank Group between 2006 and 2009. 

According to the organization, the survey provides an overview of key business environment indicators in countries, benchmarking against their respective geographic region and group of countries with similar incomes. The firm conducted the survey based on firm sizes.

The graph below, generated by a team of economists at dnekan On Africa on the back of data from the global organisation presents the top 10 constraints as identified by firms in Nigeria benchmarked against those of a similar survey carried out in Ghana during the same period.

 Graph 1

Never expect power always
 
'A generation of Nigerians exist that don't understand what it means for electricity to be stable' claimed a Nigerian immigrant who has resided in the United Kingdom for some 20 years. Indeed Nigerians have coined several acronyms for the succeeding organisations responsible for power generation and distribution within the country. The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the giant power supplier is known to consumers as Please Have Candle Nearby. Five years ago it replaced the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) nationally known as Never Expect Power Always.

The impact of this poor performance is telling - a manufacturing sector contributing about 4% of the GDP as well as an economy heavily dependent on importtation of finished manufactured goods.

While this report may not be seen as new revelation, it  will remind Nigerians of how inept the various administrations have been over a period of 30 years since power supply in the country stagnated.

The survival strategy of firms in Nigeria demands that they have their own power plants thus creating high concentration of small-scale power generators. According to the survey, Nigeria has the highest concentration of firms owing or sharing a generator. While data may not exist but at least Three-quarters of all electricity is produced by individuals at an estimated annual cost of $13 billion. 

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