The objectives, which the Federal Government of Nigeria’s privatisation programme is meant to achieve, are numerous and involve, as a basic component, the improvement of economic efficiency. Generally, the programme has four objectives:
- To achieve higher allocative and productive efficiency, leading to faster economic growth and development;
- To strengthen the role of the private sector in the economy through job creation and economic development;
- To improve the public sector’s financial health by reducing the burden incurred by having to subsidize PEs; and,
- To free resources for use in sectors important to all Nigerians, such as education, health, housing, transportation, and other infrastructure development initiatives.
The scope of the privatisation programme, which commenced in 1999, includes the partial or total sale of shares owned by the Federal Government, its parastatals and other agencies in PEs active or dominant in at least 13 key sectors. The total value of investment to be transferred from the public sector through privatisation is in excess of $100 billion.