BPE to privatise BoI, BoA, FMBN

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) plans to put up government owned Development Finance Institutions (DFI) for sale.

It is already working to strategy for the privatization of the agencies.

The agencies are Bank of Industry (BoI), Bank of Agriculture (BoA) and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN). The three institutions have all been slated for private sector take over with President Jonathan's approval.

The Director General, of the bureau, Benjamin Ezra Dikki, told a team from the Standard and Poor's and Fitch Rating agencies which was on a visit to the Bureau on Wednesday that the BPE was also working out modalities for the commercialisation of the country's 12 River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs), the seven national parks, and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

He also announced that the Bureau generated N251.5 billion from 122 privatised enterprises from 1999 to 2012.

The director general, who was represented by the head, strategic planning, Osauzo Obaro, revealed that out of the amount, N147 billion was remitted to the privatisation proceeds account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

He informed the visitors that out of the privatised enterprises, 66 percent was doing well while 34 percent still have issues to be sorted out.

The team led by Richard Fox was at the Bureau in continuation of this year's Nigeria Sovereignty Rating exercise, it was learnt.

The director general maintained that the government was creating an enabling environment for private sector investments in infrastructure through institution of sound policies, liberalisation and delineation of the roles of the parties, appropriate legal and regulatory framework, mitigation of risks and introduction of independent economic regulators limiting government to policy formulation, planning and technical regulation, among others.