The Chairman of Basic Metal Fabricated Iron and Steel Products Manufacturers, a sectoral arm of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Dr. Yusuf Kamoru, has called for the urgent revaluation of the capital base of distribution companies (DisCos) and increase same to achieve meaningful investment in their network.
He also called for further unbundling of the current distribution sub-sector to one investor per state.
Dr. Kamoru in a chat with Blueprint in Abuja on Wednesday said, “It has been canvased severally that the coverage areas for the DisCos are too large and would not make for effectiveness of the DisCos hence, the need to further unbundle the distribution sub-sector of the value chain comprised of 11 DisCos into 36 DisCos. This will ensure effectiveness of DisCos as well as monitoring. It is clear, that, most of the 11 DisCos are biting more than they could chew.”
According to him, “The decades of appalling performance of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) have left many Nigerians wondering if NESI could ever be remedied seeing that the role of NESI in the state of Nigeria’s economy cannot be overemphasized. From the several households scattered across Nigeria, through the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to the large electricity consumer in the manufacturing sector, a turnaround of NESI will in no small measure positively impact the very fabric of Nigeria. This is because virtually all businesses need electricity to thrive.”
He however lamented that despite the plethora of interventions from several quarters – national and even international, there has yet to yield much benefits as the sector is clearly enmeshed in avoidable chaos.
Continuing, he explained that since DisCos are critical to the achievement of the desired improved electricity supply to Nigerians, they should be mandated to carry out infrastructural improvement by constructing a minimum of 5 kilometers of new lines (every month) complete with both TCN interface projects. TCN should also be required to periodically upgrade the equipment and infrastructure.
