By Patrick Andrew Abuja Th e Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has installed at least 76,000 pre-paid meters for its customers through the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) instituted by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Th is was disclosed by the company’s Managing Director, Engr. Ernest Mupwaya, while welcoming the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy that visited his offi ce in Abuja as part of its oversight function.
Further, Engr. Mupwaya said more than 3,500 of the 3,900 large power users under the AEDC’s franchise area have been metered since it started the free pre-paid installation exercise last December. According to him, most of the customers have been placed under an automated meter reading (AMR) system which allows them to monitor their electricity consumption patterns from their homes, while the company also monitors same from a control centre at its head offi ce. Th e MD said its aggressive metering drive was geared towards tackling customers’ reservations about estimated billing, while also reducing the company’s loss of revenue due to non-payment of bills. Engr. Mupwaya equally informed the members about the transformation the AEDC has made in its billing and vending systems, a departure from the archaic ones it inherited when it took over management of the Abuja DISCos. “We recognize that aff ordable, adequate and safe electricity is a key ingredient to any sustainable economic development, and that we cannot talk of sustainable progress if we are providing a service that is not satisfactory.
“Th is is why we are conscious of improving our customer satisfaction level”, the AEDC CEO, who received the committee accompanied by other top management staff , stressed. Th e AEDC boss also told the committee that it has injected fi nancial and reporting disciplines into the system as well as introduced information technology (IT) infrastructure, improved organisational design, corporate governance, compliance with health, safety and environmental standards, all geared towards improved customer service systems.
Th e AEDC admitted some challenges but assured that it was committed to increasing customer engagement in communities across its franchise area, and noted it has a functional and vibrant customer service centre to address complaints and enquiries of customers. Responding, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, lauded the AEDC for the progress made in metering its customers, and urged the company to replicate similar feat in the provision of other facilities that would ensure improved service delivery to its consmers
…Gets new Chief Finance Offi cer Th e Board of Directors of Abuja Electricity Distribution (AEDC) Plc has approved the appointment of Ije Ikoku as the acting Chief Finance Offi cer (CFO) of the Company.
A press statement issued over the weekend by AEDC’s Head of Public Relations & Media, Ahmed Shekarau, said that Ikoku’s appointment followed the demise of the company’s pioneer CFO, Mr. Andrew James Atterbury, on January 19, 2017. Ikoku, according to the statement, brings over 18 years of leadership experience in the fi elds of investments and infrastructure fi nance to AEDC, having been a founding team member of Copperbelt Electricity Company (CEC) Africa Investments. CEC is a multi-country infrastructure investment platform (with approximately $1 billion in assets under management) established to develop, fi nance and operate power projects across Sub Saharan Africa. Th e statement noted that CEC has stakes in power projects in operations and under development in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Namibia, adding that Ije Ikoku is the immediate past CFO of CEC Africa. Before this appointment, she was a Senior Investment Offi cer and Infra Team Lead at the World Bank/International Finance Corporation (IFC) where she spent seven years, the statement explained. “In this role, Ikoku was responsible for all facets of deal sourcing, structuring, negotiating, and fi nancing of infrastructure transactions and public private partnerships,” the statement said and added that at IFC, she worked in Washington DC and Lagos covering infrastructure investments in Africa and Latin America