Implication of Technological Innovation Capability and Public Private Partnership Initiative for the Percentage of the Nigeria Population with Access to Electricity Supply

Abstract

This study is an examination of the relationship between technological innovation capability and percentage of the Nigeria population with access to electricity supply in the Nigeria power sector between 2005 and 2017. The researchers adopted trend analysis and expost facto research designs. The secondary data were obtained from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, regression analysis and coefficient of multiple determination. The finding of this research showed that technological innovation capabilities such as investment in new technologies, investment in thermal and hydro generated, local and foreign training have a positive relationship with percentage of Nigerian population with access to electric supply in the pre and post PPP initiative. The pre-PPP study period (2005-2012) and post- PPP study period (2013-2017) show that (R = 0.772) and (R = 1.000) respectively. But not all the individual indicators are statistically significant as it was found that unlike the pre-PPP era, only the investment in thermal and hydro generated is not statistically significant in the post PPP era. It was concluded that the government present policy on the PPP initiative does not have the strategic balance to drive the optimal TI intensity from the private investors to move the power sector to the desired/projected level. The researcher thus recommended that, management of the power sector should strategically balance the policy by identifying which indicators will cause a significant change for every unit increase in investment and develop a sensitivity analysis model to study how variable(s) in policy will likely react to policy changes before adoption and implementation.