June 2013 target for stable electricity

President Goodluck Jonathan in Islamabad, Pakistan assured Nigerians of a stable supply of electricity in major cities by the end of second quarters of next year. Jonathan gave the assurance at an interactive session with the Nigerian community living in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The event hosted by the Nigerian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dauda Danladi was part of the activities on the sidelines of the Summit of Eight Developing Nations (D-8) being attended by the President in Islamabad.
Responding to questions raised by some of the guests, the President said his administration had overcome the challenges of power generation to a very large extent. He identified the major challenge to be that of evacuation of the generated electricity due to poor infrastructure.

NERC Targets 5 States for Power Consumer Assembly

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has earmarked five states for Power Consumer Assembly (PCA) before the end of this year. NERC’s Commissioner in charge of Government and Consumer Affairs, Dr. Abba Ibrahim, who gave this indication at a recent PCA held in Ibadan, also identified the States to include Kebbi; Akwa Ibom; Taraba; Ebonyi and Jigawa.

Abba assured electricity consumers that the agency had not lost its focus in the drive to achieve a balancing act, particularly as enshrined in the Electric Sector Power Reform (ESPR) Acts 2005. He told participants that NERC would not relent in sensitizing electricity consumers of their rights and responsibility as consumers as well as to the service provider.

The PCA though, spearheaded by NERC, often has in attendance the chief executive officer and management staff of the distribution zone where the forum is being held. It is one of the deliberate and strategic means by which the commission brings the service provider face-to-face with the electricity consumer to tackle issues bordering on electricity. NERC views electricity consumers as important stakeholders in the scheme of things concerning the power industry that should be protected from the service provider. Power Consumer Assemblies are avenues NERC uses to meet and interact with consumers across the country including the staff of electricity utility companies, the civil society, among others.

Rwanda gets new $12m loan from OPEC

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), a financial arm of the petroleum group, has approved a supplementary $12million loan (about Rwf7.3billion) to the Government of Rwanda that will be used to expand electricity to rural Rwanda.

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) is an inter-governmental financial institution established by the 12 OPEC member states. The latest loan to Rwanda is only one among several others, and grants over the past years for infrastructure.

The Rwanda electricity project will also target extending the power grid to priority public institutions such as schools and health centers in urban and peri-urban areas. Densely populated rural areas presently unconnected to the grid will also be on the menu of the project. In total, about 310,000 households have access to electricity in Rwanda. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Water and Energy, about 14 percent of the country’s population currently has access to electricity. Government wants that up to more than 16 percent by 2015.

At the moment, there is a Tunisian company that has been extending the power grid to rural areas – mainly in the east.