Vice President Shettima Commissions Electric Meter Manufacturing Factory in Anambra

By Praise Chinecherem

Vice-President, Kashim Shettima has commissioned an electric energy meter manufacturing factory in Oraifite, Ekwusigo Local Government Area lof Anambra State.

Inaugurating the factory on Thursday, Shettima said the firm, co-named Advanced Energy Management Solutions, would assist Federal Government in its efforts at addressing power challenges in the country.

He acknowledged the electric meter shortage in the country, expressing optimism that the factory would help reduce the meter shortage gap.

He said, “We commend this initiative as we commission the factory to the glory of God and the use of humanity. This will help reduce the shortage gap of prepaid meters in the country.

“We believe that the establishment of the factory will help resolve the power supply challenges facing the country by addressing the critical issue of very high metering gap among consumers.

“It is also a direct response to the call by the Federal Government for local and foreign investors to invest in Nigeria, create jobs and stimulate economic activities all around the country.”

Earlier, Chief Executive Officer, Advanced Energy Management Solutions Limited (AEMSL) Okechukwu Onyejiuwa said the factory has capacity to produce 1.4 million meters annually, at the same time produce Single Phase and Three Phase as well as Maximum Demand (MD) Meters.

He also revealed that the factory would create about 500 direct jobs, comprising majorly of Engineers, Technicians as well as Finance and Administration professionals.

“In addition to the direct jobs, we estimate that there will also be over 4000 indirect jobs created by activities of this company.

“The operations of this factory will stimulate economic activities in the country, especially given the high-tech nature of the skills required for the manufacturing process.

“It will also conserve scarce foreign exchange through reduction in the cost of imported raw materials, developing local raw materials sources and the potential for export to other countries within Africa and other parts of the world in the near future,” he said.

According to Onyejiuwa, the factory was established to support government efforts to resolve nation’s power supply challenges through addressing critical issue of very high metering gap amongst consumers.

“It is also a direct response to the call by the Federal Government for local and foreign investors to invest in Nigeria, create jobs and stimulate economic activities all around the country.

“The manufacturing facility is equipped with advanced, cutting-edge equipment and machinery to manufacture a wide range of MD and non-MD smart energy meters, as well as feeder meters of accuracy class ranging from 0.2S to 1S in compliance with national and international standards.

“The factory is installed with ultrasonic welding machines and high-resolution laser printers; and equipped with a state-of-the-art QA/QC laboratory with environmental conditioning chamber, 35KV testing, glow wire testing, destructive testing, EHV testing, ageing testing, and power quality analyzer facilities, among others.

“Getting this factory completed from the scratch has taken a toll on the various professionals and artisans who toiled every day to accomplish their individual tasks,” he added.

The AEMSL boss appealed to government to encourage AEMS, local Meter Manufacturing companies as well as future investors in Metering by making it possible for them to participate fully in the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).

“Notwithstanding the challenges, we are determined to contribute our own quota in the development of our sector and contribute to the power improvement objectives of the government,” he added.

The occasion was attended by Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, his Deputy, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, Secretary to State Government, Professor Solo Chukwulobelu, Chief of Staff to Governor Soludo, Mr. Ernest Ezeajughi, National, State Houses Assembly and House of Representatives’ members, among others.