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Power Sector Reforms; NERC Urges Electricity Consumers To Be Patient

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The Special Adviser, Research and Strategy, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mr. Uche Okoro (NERC) called for patience from the public in order to enjoy the benefits of the privatised power sector.
Okoro made this call at a seminar organised by the Nigerian-Danish Chamber of Commerce (NDCC) in Lagos.
The theme of the seminar was: “Power Sector Reforms: Overcoming Institutional and Regulatory Challenges in an Era of Liberalisation.”
According to him, certain institutional and economic challenges confronting the new investors in the sector have slowed down the effectiveness of the power sector reforms.
“The Federal Government privatised the power sector in order to bring about positive result in power generation and distribution.
“Unfortunately, some issues have been slowing down government’s effort in achieving this feat.
“According to the terms of agreements in the privatisation process, the new investors are meant to work alongside with staff of Power Holding Company of Nigeria for a period of six months.
“This is to allow them shadow-trade and understudy the generation and transmitting systems in a bid to creating necessary technical trouble-shooting that will guarantee a successful take-over and management of the Discos.
“This was sabotaged by the labour issues that arose during the privatisation process,” he said.
Okoro said that some of the investors lacked adequate funds to run their businesses.
According to him, the investors have borrowed so much money from various financial institutions with an assurance of generating quick funds from the nearly-moribund power system.
“They are yet to generate money to pay their debts much less funds to trade with.
“Constant pipeline vandalism, negative attitude of consumers to paying utility bills, illegal connections and many other issues have slowed down the efficiency of services rendered by these investors.
“We really need to exercise patience with these new investors, six months are not enough to resolve problems that have lingered for decades,” he said.
Mr Sanusi Garba, Director of Power, Federal Ministry of Power, said the Federal Government was working on modalities to bail out the investors from their financial problems in enhancing power sector reforms.
Mr Jakob Bejer, Danish Honorary Consul to Nigeria, said that the nation’s economy could not be competitive without a viable manufacturing sector.
He also said that many businesses were struggling to survive because of the influx of sub-standard imported products from China.
He said that constant power supply would give the manufacturing sector a competitive edge to eradicate and frustrate imports of sub-standard goods.

Mr Ben Adako, President of NDCC, said that electricity was a necessary factor in rejuvenating industrial capacity of a nation.
He appealed to the Federal Government to ameliorate the challenges confronting power distribution and generating companies in the country in order to create a reliable and efficient power sector.
“The overall interest in the business sector is the availability of power supply.
“Its impact on the private sector will be positive in the sense of job creation, increase in economic growth, greater productivity and prosperity for the nation,” he said.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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