MEMMCOL tasks FG on bridging metering gap in Nigeria

Admin l Friday, April 21, 2023

LAGOS – In other to boost electricity meter usage and encouraged local content, the Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Ltd. (MEMMCOL), has called on the Federal Government to increase its support and encouragement to indigenous meter manufacturers, to bridge the nation’s metering gap.

Mr Kola Balogun, Chairman, MEMMCOL, made the appeal at the graduation ceremony of 10 youths on a five-week Printed Circuit Board (PCB) training course in Lagos on Thursday. It would be recalled that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said that the country’s metering gap currently stands at over five million.

Balogun said that encouraging and allowing consumers to acquire meters on their own would spring up more investment in metering industry. The indigenous electricity meters manufacturer also called on the government to license meter manufacturers to bridge the metering gap.

According to him, the federal government must continue to encourage local companies sufficiently or allow consumers to be able to buy meters on their own.

“If they can buy meters on their own, we will be able to invest. This means we should be licensed and most of the enterprises that are sustainable today are licensed enterprise.
License meter manufacturers, so that we will be able to reach more users,” he said. He also advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and development banks to seek ways of directly funding manufacturers, saying that it is the surest path to reducing unemployment in the country.

Speaking on the training course, he said the PCB fabrication design has never been done in any of the higher institutions or skill acquisition centres in the country. He pointed that the idea behind the training course was to reposition Nigerian youths for the global digital economy.

“We want to represent our youths, especially those in the science domain to be able to key into global Artificial Intelligence (AI) space.

Balgun said: “Nigerians are known to be users of computers and telephone, but we do not manufacture these things.

“We are using this platform to be able to train youths to design these digital technologies and the fundamental foundation of designing electronic device is the PCD.
The PCD is where you plug all your components to do the magic,” he added.

According to him, each of the graduands is a macro business enterprise as a unit and has the capacity to design and fabricate for all the global digital industries across the globe.

“They are digital entrepreneurs and engineers and can now fabricate PCB and it is the heart of any electronic device. Our next agenda is to write to most of the universities to send in some of their representatives,” Balogun emphasised. He said that the company’s efforts in empowering youths and women with skill acquisition, had attracted grant from the German government to establish a skill acquisition institution.

“The grant is for establishing institution for skill acquisition, which PCB will be part of the courses we are going to run. We have a database for all our students, to ensure that they comply with all the regulations in their curriculum.