A High Court in Lagos in the Federal Republic of Nigeria has restrained Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Bureau of Public Enterprises and Sahelian Power SPV Limited, from naming Powercom or any other investor as a core shareholder in Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).
The court presided over by Justice Nicholas Oweibi, also barred the respondents from conducting or recognising any other bidding process for selling Sahelian’s 60 per cent shares in the Kano Electricity Distribution Company.
Other respondents affected by the orders are Fidelity Bank, the receiver manager, Patrick Ikwueto SAN, Kano Electricity Distribution Company Plc. and Powercom Smart Grid Nigeria Limited.
The applicant, Future Energies Africa (FEA) Limited, which is a consortium of local and international investors, told the court that the process that produced Powercom Smart Grid Nigeria (PSGN) as the preferred company to take over the Kano Electricity Distribution Plc (KEDCO) was flawed.
The applicant had also claimed that NERC and Powercom failed to comply with the guidelines and requirements of the federal government, as laid down by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and NERC itself.
BPE is the agency in the custody of the government’s 40 per cent stake in the electricity distribution asset, leaving Fidelity Bank with the temporary ownership stake of the remaining 60 per cent.
Through a receiver manager, in collaboration with the BPE, Fidelity Bank initiated a bidding process to get a technically sound and financially competent buyer to acquire the bank’s stake in KEDCO.
A few days ago, Powercom had, via a statement, announced its acquisition of KEDCO.
Speaking to the press, Adam Ibrahim (an investor and consortium member of FEA), however, faulted the premise of Powercom’s acquisition announcement with the revelation that the company could not claim to have acquired KEDCO when Future Energies had already completed the execution of contracts and agreements through a share sale and purchase agreement to acquire the shares that both BPE and NERC are aware of.
Ibrahim stated that FEA had “no recourse than to seek legal action having filed a complaint to BPE and NERC that fell on deaf ears. FEA is further surprised that NERC, despite (a) its knowledge of a signed share sale and purchase agreement, (b) agreed on transaction terms as forwarded to it by BPE and Fidelity’s representative, and (c) a subsequent complaint by Future Energies regarding Fidelity Bank’s attempt to scuttle the completed process, still issued a ‘No Objection’ for PowerCom.”
Future Energies claimed that it had won the earlier bid after a rigorous review and screening process that lasted almost a year, alongside other bidders, and was given a ‘No Objection’ approval by the BPE after meeting the requirements for acquisition as laid down in guidelines set by BPE and NERC.
However, FEA revealed that for some undisclosed reasons, Fidelity Bank, which is the interim owner of the 60 per cent stake in the entity, decided to halt the process and approve another bidder after having already signed a valid and binding contract to sell the shares to Future Energies.
Ibrahim said, “My consortium—Future Energies Africa Limited (FEA)—was interested in the Kano Distribution Company, and we put in a bid through Fidelity (and its receiver manager) and BPE, which is the entity responsible for approving the guidelines and overseeing the bid process.
“The guidelines were communicated to us by BPE through Fidelity Bank. Shockingly, there is an attempt to destroy the investment and time we spent putting together a competent bid with no explanation.
“We went through the process, sent in an expression of interest alongside other bidders that were interested in the asset. After a long process and evaluation of us and other bidders, we emerged as the new core investor and got approval from Fidelity Bank through the receiver manager, to take over the asset. We also obtained a ‘No Objection’ from BPE.
“We negotiated the core contract that guides the sale of a company, which is the sale and purchase agreement (SPA). We negotiated the document, signed it and Fidelity Bank sent it over to BPE for the BPE to sign the shareholders’ agreement, which is the document that guides all the shareholders in an entity.
“In the process of negotiating the shareholders’ agreement, we understood that a call was placed by Fidelity Bank, telling BPE to halt the process of signing the shareholders’ agreement, even though we had signed the sale and purchase agreement to acquire the asset.
“They (Fidelity Bank) decided to secretly reopen the bid, and they hired PwC to begin a fresh bid process. They also secretly introduced other new companies in the process. We were told to just resubmit our documents, and we had no idea there was a new competitive process after we had already concluded our transaction. We assumed this submission of documents was just for internal purposes. Nonetheless, we reserved all of our rights under the binding contract.”
He added, “The second bidding process doesn’t conform with all of the government’s guidelines and requirements. The risk is that we may end up in the same situation whereby you are selling assets to entities that do not have the technical or financial capabilities to turn around the business.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The portfolio has led to a carbon offset of more than 360, 000 tonnes of CO 2 to date.
“This merger will enhance our current capabilities and allow us to deploy Energy and Cooling as a Service on a much larger scale. This is therefore a story of growth. Not only for Starsight Energy and SolarAfrica but also for the renewable energy landscape in Africa,” Van Zijl added.
Powering Africa Through Affordable, Clean Energy
In addition to key markets Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa, the group is working on imminent expansion into Tanzania and Uganda. It brings a range of renewable energy solutions to the table, with solar energy, battery storage and cooling at the top of the list.
“We are excited about making a meaningful contribution to power supply on the continent through our on- and off-site solutions. This will help take pressure off national grids which have been under significant strain in many of the core African markets,” said Charl Alheit, Group Chief Investment Officer.
Providing these solutions to more businesses can also go a long way in developing distributed renewable energy frameworks in each region.
In-Country Focus Unlocks Continent-Wide Growth
The merged group will retain a strong presence within the various countries to further strengthen its footprint across Africa.
“We do not believe in a fly-in fly-out model and will have ‘boots on the ground’ in our geographies. Our country teams consist of dedicated in-country management as well as sales and technical teams who represent our ethos, whilst being supported by the wider group management,” said Van Zijl.
“It’s important to have strong representation in each geography with teams who know and understand their markets and are passionate about transforming these markets into green energy hubs. That’s something both SolarAfrica and Starsight Energy have always had in common: we know that the people in our business have always been the reason for our success, and this new chapter will be no different,” Alheit concluded.
Leveraging Existing Knowledge And Capabilities
Both Starsight Energy and SolarAfrica are represented in the group executive management team, combining their expertise and experience.
Paul van Zijl assumes the role of Group Chief Executive Officer (formerly Group Chief Financial Officer of Starsight Energy), Charl Alheit assumes the role of Group Chief Investment Officer (formerly Chief Investment Officer for SolarAfrica), Max Rieg assumes the role of Group Commercial Director (formerly Commercial Director of Starsight Energy)
The group will also retain its regional management structures, with David McDonald (Southern Africa), Emmanuel Ayifa Baah (Ghana), Ladi Sanni (Nigeria) and Rupesh Hindocha (East Africa) leading their respective regions. 
The experts agreed that one of the strategic tasks facing every state in the modern world is the introduction of technologies that will ensure energy security, guarantee the sustainable development of various sectors of the economy, and increase the scientific and human resource potential of the country.
“Africa is on its way from being one fifth of the world’s population to one third. At the same time, if you look at electricity generation globally, last year, approximately 30 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity was generated on the planet, while Africa generated less than one. And in that sense, this disparity cannot be sustained for long,”said Alexey Likhachev.
“It is clear that states on the African continent will be actively engaged in building power generation capacity in the coming decades,” he added.
Mohamed Shaker El-Markabi, Minister for Electricity and Renewable Energy of Egypt, said that the development of nuclear energy in his country in co-operation with Rosatom has a positive impact on all spheres of life and work.
“We expect the number of jobs to increase ninefold. In addition, the country’s development strategy until 2035 states that by that time renewable energy sources should account for about 42% – nuclear power can help us with this.”
“Right now, only more than 70% of our population has access to electricity,” said Fidele Ndahayo, Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Atomic Energy Board.
According to the speaker, nuclear energy can remedy this situation. “Nuclear power is about reliability. Nuclear power is not just about money. All studies show: it leads to economic growth in all spheres of life.”
Doto Mashaka Biteko, Minister for Minerals of the United Republic of Tanzania said, “We already have a uranium programme, but we now want to look at new technologies from other countries. We need to add 10% to our GDP, and uranium is one of them. We want to breathe new life into our projects, and we invite everyone to do so. About 30% of our people live below the poverty line, we want to improve their quality of life. We have natural resources. God has given us everything we need, so we will achieve everything.”
Ibrahim Uwizeye, Minister of Hydraulics, Energy and Mining of the Republic of Burundi, said: “I visited the Leningrad NPP. I am impressed. We need energy self-sufficiency, and we will soon sign an agreement with Rosatom to achieve it.”
“Africa is the next stage in the development of global nuclear energy. All eyes will now be on what Russia is offering to its friends at this Forum. What is done today will be inherited by the next generations. If we do not address the energy challenge, Africa’s youth will be vulnerable. For the sake of Africa’s sustainable development, African countries should accept the proposals that come from Russia. Unfortunately, the world media is against Africa–Russia cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. It becomes even more important to properly inform the public. Africans are tired of living in darkness,” said Princess Mthombeni, Founder, Africa4Nuclear; Nuclear Communication and Technology Specialist of South Africa.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 