It took no less than a decade to complete. Indeed, the privatisation of Nigeria’s previously state-owned power utility was in many ways a bold initiative. But the exercise has left a host of post-privatisation headaches. Years after the breakup of the power authority into eleven distribution companies and seven generating companies as well as a separate transmission company, reliable power supply still eludes Nigerian citizens and industries alike. Okechukwu Marcellus Ikeanyibe unpacks why this is so and points to some solutions.

Resistance against large-scale resource extraction and energy projects often hogs the spotlight. Much less attention is given to how corporations and governments try to pre-empt and manage this opposition. Judith Verweijen and Alexander Dunlap explain how industries depend on shaping the perceptions and behaviour of governments, shareholders, consumers and people living in the areas where large-scale resource extraction occurs. They highlight why it’s important to study strategies that allow extractive projects to continue despite opposition and damage to the planet.

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Adejuwon Soyinka

Regional Editor West Africa
Several protests have trailed the privatisation of the power sector in Nigeria. Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images

Nigeria’s post-privatisation energy sector is a mess: here are some solutions

Okechukwu Marcellus Ikeanyibe, University of Nigeria

Nigeria's attempt at privatising its power infrastructure hasn't been without challenges but they are not insurmountable.
shutterstock

How extractive industries manage to carry on harming the planet

Judith Verweijen, University of Sheffield; Alexander Dunlap, University of Oslo

Mining is not just a physical engineering process. It requires social engineering as well.

Business + Economy

The basis of South Africa’s annual budgets needs an overhaul. Here’s why, and how

Matthew Kofi Ocran, University of the Western Cape

Medium-term expenditure frameworks can be useful only when they are based on comprehensive medium-term development plans.

Why it pays to link products to places - and how African countries can do it

Samuel Samiai Andrews, University of Gondar

Africa needs to take advantage of a copyright law to protect and explore its unique local products.

Education

Why Nigeria’s religious leaders should learn more about climate change

George Nche, University of Johannesburg

Nigeria's religious leaders can shape the environmental worldviews and behaviour of their congregations

A critical look at what’s missing from Muslim education in South Africa

Nuraan Davids, Stellenbosch University

Pupils who aren't exposed to different perspectives won't be equipped to participate in and contribute to a democratic society.

From our international editions

I was the Australian doctor on the WHO’s COVID-19 mission to China. Here’s what we found about the origins of the coronavirus

Dominic Dwyer, University of Sydney

Much has been said of the politics surrounding the mission to investigate the viral origins of COVID-19. So it's easy to forget that behind these investigations are real people.

Will European countries ever take meaningful steps to end colonial legacies?

Michael McEachrane, Lund University

Plans are being adopted and resolutions made, but moving forward means facing difficult truths about the past.

Why the US rejoining the Paris climate accord matters at home and abroad — 5 scholars explain

Morgan Bazilian, Colorado School of Mines; Deb Niemeier, University of Maryland; Edward R. Carr, Clark University; Kristie Ebi, University of Washington; Walt Meier, NASA

The US is formally back in the Paris climate agreement as of today. As one of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters, it has a lot of work to do, with food security, health and safety at stake.

The human genome at 20: how biology’s most-hyped breakthrough led to anticlimax and arrests

Alasdair Mackenzie, University of Aberdeen; Andreas Kolb, University of Aberdeen

The achievement didn't live up to the hype, but it has illuminated new areas of 'genetic dark matter'.

En Français

Retour d’Ebola en Afrique de l’Ouest : les leçons à retenir du passé, en six questions clés

Mosoka Fallah, University of Liberia

Ebola a déclenché une nouvelle épidémie en Guinée. Face à cette flambée, les pays d’Afrique de l'Ouest sont mieux préparés qu’ils ne l’étaient sept ans en arrière.

Le modèle WeChat : comment le blocage des sites d’actualité par Facebook pourrait transformer l’économie de l’information

Fan Yang, Deakin University; Robbie Fordyce, Monash University

En Chine, la plate-forme WeChat est un véritable canal de distribution d’informations. L’avenir de Facebook lui ressemblera-t-il ?
 

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