Metre manufacturer lauds operation of agency in Enugu

The establishment of the Nigeria Electricity Services Agency (NEMSA) in Enugu will help check the proliferation of substandard electricity members in the Southeast network and environs.

Mr Chiso Nwangwu, Managing Director of Sabrud Consortium Limited, an indigenous meter manufacturing company based in Awka, said this in an interview with newsmen in Awka on Thursday.

Nwangwu commended the Federal Government for decentralising and expanding the regulatory reach of NEMSA.

He said that the development would also reduce the amount of money spent on moving products from point of production to NEMSA offices in Port Harcourt or Lagos for supervision.

“I would like to thank the Federal Government which through NEMSA opened the Enugu area office which comes with the laboratory that tests meters in the area.

“It is going to improve the quality of meters sold in this area as well as reduce our overhead which is as a result of the huge amount of money spent on the movement of products.

“They can now inspect, calibrate and pull down any substandard meter in southeast more quickly now because they are close to the people they serve,’’ Nwangwu said.

He said Sabrud meters were reliable with about 99 per cent test success rate and expressed hope that the regulator would encourage the company to sell the products in the South East markets.

He called on the Federal Government to formulate and implement policies that would encourage more local content in the electricity industry including patronage of Nigeria-made meters.

“As the foremost meter manufacturer in Southeast, we expect that their (NEMSA’s) coming will deepen partnership among industry players here.

“We expect that Sabrud will be allowed to sell meters here as part of the effort to close the metering gap in the area,’’ he said.

The Sabrud boss, who said his company had an installed capacity of 600,000, explained that locally manufactured meters were better regulated, more standardised and reliable than their imported alternatives.

He, however, expressed dismay with the continued deterioration of the exchange rate on manufacturing and pleaded that a concessionary forex regime for meter manufacturers would check inflation.

According to him, we are happy with the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sanitise the forex market by checking the activities of the bureau de change operations.

“We would like the apex bank to provide a special window for meter manufacturers to enable us to operate more sustainably,’’ he said. (NAN)