Simon Asite, President, Delta Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (DACCIMA), has urged the Federal Government to evolve a better framework that would guarantee stable electricity supply.
Asite said on Thursday in Warri that the epileptic power situation in the country was crippling businesses in the organised private sector.
The DACCIMA president, who was also the president, Warri Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, said many businesses were collapsing because of high cost of operation.
He said that stable electricity was vital to the development of any economy, noting that most developed countries relied on cottage businesses to drive their economy.
The DACCIMA president said the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had to do more in terms of policies that would protect the interest of the organised private sector.
According to him, the commission was only formulating policies that favoured the buyers of the power sector.
”If government wants to achieve export-oriented economy to improve the standard of living of the people, it must be steadfast in the provision of power.
”So there should be an overview of the power sector and that will lead to a better framework in favour of the entrepreneurs,” he said.
Asite, however, lauded the diversification policy of the government, saying that it was long overdue.
He also said that the restriction of import of certain products into the country would boost local production and by implication, grow the economy.
”Diversification from oil to agro-processing, cottage and manufacturing is good but my fear is that without reliable electricity, it might not make significant impact on the economy.
”So power is the bedrock for any economy to grow; even though government has privatised the power sector, it has even become more difficult to get the light,” he said.
(NAN)
