The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disbursed N123.34 billion to Distribution Companies (DisCos) to boost electricity supply in the country.

This was disclosed by the apex bank in its Monetary Policy Committee Communique on Tuesday.

According to the document, CBN disbursed N33.45 billion to nine DisCos for the procurement of 605,852 meters, while N89.89 billion was disbursed under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF 2) to 11 DisCos to improve the electricity supply in the country.

What the CBN is saying

It stated, “Under the National Mass Metering Programme, N33.45 billion has been disbursed to 9 distribution companies for the procurement of 605,852 meters,  while N89.89 billion has been disbursed under the Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF 2) to 11 distribution companies to improve the electricity supply industry in Nigeria.”

Why it matters

• President Muhammadu Buhari approved the National Mass Metering Program (NMMP) implementation to close the metering gap, which is over 10 million and this comprises unmetered customers as well as customers with obsolete meters that need to be replaced.
• The objectives of the initiative are to increase Nigeria’s metering rate, elimination of arbitrary estimated billing, strengthen the local meter value chain by increasing local meter manufacturing, assembly and deployment capacity and support Nigeria’s economic recovery by creating jobs in the local meter value chain.
• Others are to reduce collection losses and increasing financial flows to achieve 100% market remittance obligations of the DisCos, and Improve network monitoring capability and availability of data for market administration and investment decision making.