VANGUARD
Major companies in Nigeria spent about N635.2 billion on power generation and utilization in 2023 amidst rising energy costs and its attendant impact on businesses.
This represents a 41.5 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) increase compared to N448.76 billion spent in the corresponding period in 2022.
Details of the cost show that the bulk of the expenditure was on diesel and related cost of independent power generation.
Latest statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the average retail price of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) paid by consumers in December 2023 was N1,126.69 per litre in December 2023, an increase of 37.76 percent from N817.86 per litre in December 2022.
On a month-on-month basis, this increased by 6.74 percent from N1,055.57 per litre in November 2022.
Also, the average retail price of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) rose by 225.85 per cent to N671.86 within the same period from N206.19 per litre in December 2022, following the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu, which triggered major energy crisis in the country. Likewise, comparing the average price value with the previous month (November 2023), the average retail price increased by 3.53 percent from N 648.93.
Among the companies reporting sharp rises in power costs are BUA Foods Plc, BUA Cement Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) Plc, Neimeth Pharmaceuticals Plc, Aluminium Extrusion Industries Plc, Juli Plc, Lafarge Cement Africa Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, NASCON Allied Industries Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc, all in the manufacturing sector.
Others are Wema Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Cornerstone Insurance, Transcorp Plc, Transcorp Hotels Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc and Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc from the services sector.
Meanwhile, industrialists and financial experts have said that the persistent hike in the prices of petroleum products as well as poor public power supply nationwide, among other factors, have pushed up cost of production and is adversely impacting business competitiveness and sustainability.
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