The Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) of the federal government has signed agreements with three Chinese companies to install 1.43 million electricity meters throughout the nation.
Through its official X handle, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) revealed the arrangement yesterday.
The signing ceremony, according to the statement, took place at the BPE headquarters in Abuja and included Ajiboye Oluwagbenga, the Executive Director of Transmission Service Provider (TSP), and Sule Abdulaziz, the Chief Executive of TCN.
Ningbo Sanxing Medical & Electric Co. Ltd., Ningbo Sanxing Smart Electric Co. Ltd., and Messrs XJ Group Corporation are the three Chinese companies.
Abdulaziz praised the project and underlined its potential to drastically reduce the gap between the supply and demand of meters throughout Nigeria. He called it a critical step towards closing the 7.1 million metering gap in the country.
As per the TCN, this project is funded by the $500 million World Bank facility through the Investment Project Finance (IPF) arrangement and is a component of the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP).
The text of the statement says, “The Federal Government, through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Distribution Companies, has signed a contract agreement with consortium, Ningbo Sanxing Medical & Electric Co. Ltd and Ningbo Sanxing Smart Electric Co. Ltd, and Messrs XJ Group Corporation for the supply and installation of 1,437,500 smart meters across the country.”
“The project is part of the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), funded by the World Bank’s $500 million facility through the Investment Project Finance (IPF) arrangement.”
The World Bank DISREP project
The Federal Government of Nigeria declared in May 2024 that the World Bank had granted it a $500 million loan. The World Bank Board of Directors approved the facility on February 4, 2021, with the goal of helping the Nigerian Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP) improve the DisCos’ technical and financial performance.
Through capital investments and the funding of important components within the Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), which have been approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the DISREP seeks to boost the DisCos’ technical and financial operations.
Milestones of the project
The funds are intended to help with the purchase of meters, a data aggregation platform, and technical support. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the DISREP Program on August 3, 2022, marking a number of significant milestones in the program’s preparation.
These significant events include the approval of the Program Operations Manual (POM) by the BPE and TCN, the signing of the Financing Agreement by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning and the World Bank, the acquisition of a Legal Opinion from the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the execution of the Subsidiary Loan Agreement.
On January 31, 2023, the DISREP Program was formally launched. On May 6, 2024, the DISREP Technical Committee was established.
It was also a part of the Federal Government Borrowing Plan, which was approved on May 16, 2024, by the Senate Committee.
