Emperical Analysis of Productivity of Nigerian Power Sector

Abstract

Admittedly, the shocks from the Nigerian electricity crisis despite several palliative measures by the government have created some wedges in the national socio-economic wheel of development. Unfortunately one major method by the government to beef up productivity is by commissioning new power stations which merely solve the problem in the short run. The technical issues that put out the older plants will no sooner than latter affect the new ones and they also go down. This research analyzes the productivity change in Nigeria's power sector from 1970 – 2010. The Malmquist index with Cobb-Douglas Stochastic Production Frontier function was applied to analyze Nigeria's power generation data within the period in focus. Results obtained showed that the 2005 national electric power reform act produced slight technical improvement. It is expected that this work may assist the power policy makers and regulators to come up with better framework for the full realization of the noble goals envisaged in this act.