FG to sell 10 public assets in Q4 2018

President Muhammadu Buhari

The Federal Government has concluded plans to sell 10 government-owned companies for sale to selected investors and the public in the fourth quarter to raise N289 billion toward funding the 2018 budget,Bureau of Public Entreprises (BPE) has disclosed.

According to Bloomberg report, preparations are in the final stages to begin the sale of the companies in industries that range from power through aviation to insurance, Joe Anichebe, director, Bureau of Public Enterprises, said in an interview on Saturday in the southwestern city of Abeokuta. Two of them, Nicon Insurance Ltd. and Skyway Aviation Handling Co. will be sold “this month or early next month” through an initial public offering, he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari signed a record N9.1 trillion budget into law in June, with a smaller fiscal deficit compared with the previous year, which the government seeks to fund from sources other than revenue from oil, its main export. The privatization agency had pledged to raise N306 billion to help finance the planned spending.

The agency sold a 21 percent stake in the state-owned mint to the central bank last week for 17.3 billion naira, according to Anichebe. It is also reviewing previous sales and plans to revoke deals where buyers haven’t kept to their agreements, he said.