GAMCO: Bypassing the Bottleneck – A Sustainable Path to Powering Nigeria, by Engr. Bello Gwarzo Abdullahi, FNSE
Few issues illustrate Nigeria’s development paradox more clearly than electricity. Africa’s largest economy continues to generate less power than many smaller countries, leaving industries underpowered, businesses dependent on costly generators, and millions of citizens without reliable electricity. For a nation with vast energy resources and a growing population, the gap between potential and reality remains striking.
It is within this context that the Federal Government’s decision to establish the Grid Asset Management Company (GAMCO) deserves careful attention. Approved by the Federal Executive Council under the leadership of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GAMCO is designed as a special-purpose infrastructure vehicle to accelerate the development and financing of strategic transmission projects across the national grid. Its core objective is straightforward but crucial: to remove one of the most persistent bottlenecks in Nigeria’s electricity value chain—the limited capacity of the transmission network.
The focus on transmission is deliberate. For years, electricity reforms in Nigeria have concentrated largely on generation and distribution, while the transmission network—the critical bridge between them—has expanded far more slowly.
But the deeper lesson is that electricity supply cannot be sustained by strengthening only one segment of the system. The power sector rests on three interdependent pillars—generation, transmission, and distribution. Together they form the structural tripod of electricity delivery. When one pillar weakens, the entire system becomes unstable.
Nigeria’s electricity statistics illustrate this imbalance starkly. The country has an installed generation capacity estimated at roughly 13,000 megawatts, yet average electricity delivered to the grid typically fluctuates between 4,000 and 5,300 megawatts. The highest generation peak ever recorded on the national grid stands at about 5,800 megawatts, while national electricity demand is widely estimated to exceed 20,000 megawatts.
This persistent gap between installed capacity and actual supply reflects systemic inefficiencies across the electricity value chain. Transmission constraints limit the evacuation of generated power, while weaknesses in the distribution network restrict how much electricity ultimately reaches consumers.
Nigeria’s electricity sector itself has evolved through several institutional phases. Early supply systems established during the colonial era primarily served administrative centres and mining operations. These networks were later consolidated under the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria in 1950. In 1972, the corporation merged with the Niger Dams Authority to form the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), which for decades operated as a vertically integrated monopoly responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution.
Over time, however, operational inefficiencies, rising demand, and chronic underinvestment eroded the effectiveness of the system. The Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 was introduced to address these challenges by unbundling NEPA and restructuring the sector. Generation companies were eventually privatised, distribution companies assumed responsibility for retail electricity supply, and the national transmission network remained under the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
Despite these reforms, infrastructure expansion has not kept pace with Nigeria’s economic and population growth. Generation companies still grapple with gas supply constraints and stranded capacity. The transmission network suffers from limited capacity and insufficient redundancy. Distribution companies, meanwhile, face persistent liquidity challenges, inadequate metering infrastructure, and significant technical and commercial losses.
Because these three segments are tightly interconnected, weakness in any one inevitably undermines the performance of the entire system.
Against this backdrop, the decision to commence GAMCO’s intervention with the Benin–Lagos transmission corridor is both technically sound and economically strategic. This axis supplies electricity to the industrial belt of southwestern Nigeria, particularly Lagos and Ogun States, which together account for a substantial share of the country’s manufacturing and commercial activity.
The pilot project is expected to recover approximately 1,600 megawatts of stranded electricity from the Omotosho, Olorunsogo, and Ihovbor power plants developed under the National Integrated Power Project. Through the construction of a 330-kilovolt double-circuit transmission line, GAMCO aims to reinforce the backbone of the national grid linking these generation stations with major demand centres.
From an engineering perspective, this intervention effectively bypasses a major bottleneck in the power system, allowing existing generation assets to operate closer to their intended capacity.
Yet transmission expansion alone cannot guarantee a reliable electricity supply. If generation plants lack a stable fuel supply, or if distribution companies cannot absorb additional electricity because of financial or technical limitations, the benefits of improved transmission will remain constrained. Sustainable reform must therefore strengthen all three pillars of the electricity tripod simultaneously.
Beyond the southwestern corridor, deeper structural challenges also remain within Nigeria’s transmission architecture. Large portions of the northern grid operate in a radial configuration, where electricity flows along a single transmission pathway. When faults occur along that route, large areas can lose power because there is no alternative path through which electricity can be redirected.
Modern transmission systems, by contrast, are typically designed as ring or mesh networks, allowing electricity to flow through multiple routes and maintaining supply even during disturbances. Applying the principles of sustainable engineering economics, Nigeria must gradually transform its northern transmission network from radial vulnerability to ring resilience. Closing transmission loops along strategic corridors such as Jos–Kaduna–Kano would introduce the N-1 contingency capability required for modern grid reliability.
From an engineering economics standpoint, investments in transmission infrastructure often generate significant system-wide returns. A stronger grid enables the evacuation of stranded electricity, maximises the value of existing generation assets, and improves overall system reliability. It also reduces dependence on private diesel generators and allows more efficient electricity dispatch across the national network.
To accelerate implementation, a Transmission Trust Fund model could be considered for strategic grid projects. Such a mechanism would allow transmission investments to proceed outside the slow procurement processes that often delay public infrastructure delivery. Funding could be tied to verified project milestones, with certification from professional bodies such as the Nigerian Society of Engineers and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.
Additional policy measures could further strengthen the long-term impact of GAMCO. The advisory committee guiding the initiative should include engineers, economists, infrastructure finance specialists, and balanced geopolitical representation. Nigeria’s 330-kilovolt backbone grid should gradually evolve into a mesh transmission network, particularly across the northern corridor where radial vulnerabilities remain significant. Major hydropower developments, including the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, should also be prioritised to expand baseload generation capacity. Upgrading existing single-circuit transmission lines to double-circuit systems would further increase evacuation capacity and enhance reliability.
The establishment of GAMCO therefore represents a welcome and necessary step. By directing attention to transmission infrastructure—the often neglected middle link of the electricity value chain—the Federal Government has acknowledged a structural constraint that has long limited the performance of the national grid.
Yet the true measure of success will lie not in policy announcements but in execution. Transmission expansion must proceed alongside improvements in generation reliability and distribution efficiency. Only when these three pillars operate in balance can Nigeria achieve stable and efficient electricity delivery.
If the country succeeds in strengthening the generation–transmission–distribution tripod, while transforming vulnerable radial corridors into resilient ring networks, the long-standing gap between installed capacity and electricity actually delivered may finally begin to close.
When that happens, the impact will extend far beyond the power sector. Reliable electricity will stimulate industrial growth, expand economic opportunity, and provide the energy foundation upon which Nigeria’s future prosperity will depend.
Three policy priorities therefore stand out clearly:
First, strengthen the entire electricity tripod by aligning improvements in generation, transmission, and distribution.
Second, build redundancy into the national grid by transforming radial corridors into resilient ring or mesh networks.
Third, accelerate infrastructure delivery through innovative financing mechanisms such as a dedicated Transmission Trust Fund tied to measurable performance milestones.
Nigeria does not lack electricity potential; it lacks a system strong enough to deliver it. Strengthening the generation–transmission–distribution tripod is therefore not just an energy reform—it is an economic imperative.
By Engr. Bello Gwarzo Abdullahi, FNSE.
Email: bgabdullahi@gmail.com
