Management and Strategic Leadership expert, Biodun Ogunleye has said that increasing meter access for electricity consumers will make the sector attractive to potential investors and effectively reduce the metering gap. He stated this during a power sector webinar held on Saturday, July 22.
The webinar which was organized by Nairametrics featured several power sector experts who spoke on several opportunities available in Nigeria’s electricity sector.
The webinar with the theme: “Embracing Opportunities for a Prosperous Power Sector”, focused on the 2023 Electricity Act that was recently signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Mr. Ogunleye told attendees that the electricity sector should take a cue from the telecoms sector which has seen outstanding growth over the years due to increased access for users.
According to him, the Nigerian Telecoms sector once limited the sale of sim cards, however, over the years, that exclusivity was reduced, and sim cards became available to users everywhere.
In turn, this has increased the use of sim cards around the country and also brought in more investors to the Telecomms market. Mr Ogunleye said that the same approach could be used for prepaid meters.
He said that right now, users find it difficult to access prepaid meters, despite intervention by the government. He pointed out that potential investors were likely to come into the metering market if they saw a business model that allowed access for users.
He recommended that meters should be made available to users all over the country. According to him, prepaid meters could be sold in shops/supermarkets, where everyone can have access and the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) can control the meters from wherever they are to ensure that the right approach is being adopted when the meters are in use.
It is important to note that NEMSA carries out the functions of the enforcement of Technical Standards and Regulations, Technical Inspection, Testing, and Certification of all categories of Electrical Installations, Electricity Meters, and Instruments.
This is to ensure efficient production and delivery of safe, reliable, and sustainable electricity power supply and guarantee the safety of lives and property in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
What you should know
The Electricity Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in June 2023, stated that the number of metered customers in the country rose to 5.31 million in the first quarter of 2023, up from 5.13 million in the last quarter of 2022.
The report also noted that the number of electricity-paying customers in Nigeria has increased to 11.27 million in Q1 2023, compared to 11.06 million in Q4 2022.
Meanwhile, the 2023 Electricity Act emphasizes the use of prepaid meters in the country, to attract investments, maximize profits and reduce losses in the electricity distribution value chain.
Hopefully this meter distribution problem is resolved sooner rather than later. Sometimes people have to wait for months or even years before they get their prepared meter. We have a long way to go in this country.