News
4m Nigerians Without Digital Electricity Meter -NERC
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that over four million electricity consumers are awaiting prepaid meters in the country.
Dr. Anthony Aka, acting NERC chairman, made the disclosure in an interview in Uyo on Saturday.
Aka said that the commission had improved on metering system, but however, explained that the unavailability of meter manufacturing companies were hindering maximum provision of meters to Nigerians.
“You have to order them, you have to configured them and protect the system.
“You have to deploy the technical expertise to ensure that these meters are not bye passed. But as we speak today, theses meters are being bye passed,” he said.
He said that the commission would sanction electricity Distribution Company which failed to comply with directives relating to the distribution of prepaid meters.
“It is our responsibility to ensure compliance with these metering scheduled.
“We have our monitoring team following them and we want to make sure that if they don’t deploy the number of meters per month, per quarter or per year, we are going to sanction them severely for that,’’ Aka said.
He said; “the customer that do not have electricity meter and who feels that they gave him a wrongful billing for that month has the right to reject that bill and he should only pay the last bill he accepted.”
He noted that any customer who paid for prepaid meter should be metered within 60 days of payment.
“If they don’t meter you, the electricity distribution company have no right to estimate you or bill you If you have given money to them and they have not given you meter after 60 days,” he said.
Aka said that NERC would ensure refunds were made to customers wrongly billed as well as install the new prepaid meter.
He decried the situation where PHEDC workers were attacked by customers in the area, saying that such act was grossly unacceptable.
“They are doing their legitimate job and for them to be harassed or interrupted in the course of doing their legitimate jobs, you are not helping to solve the problems of electricity in the country,” he said.
He reiterated the company’s commitment that electricity consumers were not exploited for light they did not consumed.
Aka explained that electricity distribution company was purely a private-driven sector and not a government sector.
He said that government was only providing a regulatory framework and enabling environment.
He noted that fixed charges in electricity billing did not exist again but had been recalibrated as part of the charges.
According to him, if there is no electricity, distribution company should not charge the customers.
“We as a regulators listen to Nigerians, we remove the fixed charges and recalibrated it into the energy charged.
“What it means now is that if I don’t have light, you don’t have any right to charge me, If I travel for three months, you have no right to come back to my house and charge me,’’ he said.
He decried the situation where consumers provide resources to restore faulty power installations or transformers to the company.
He said that it was the obligation of the electricity distribution company to provide for the infrastructure, adding that the tariff paid by consumers covers infrastructure installations.
He urged electricity distribution company staff not to compel customers to provide resources to restore faulty power installations in the country.
“However, if communities want that, they should enter into agreement with us as a regulator being a witness to that and to ensure that the cost of that agreement should be refund over time by the distribution company,’’ Aka said.
He gave Nigerians the assurance that the regulatory commission would continue to balance the interest of customers and that of the operators in the state.
Akwa Ibom Government is currently constructing a prepaid meter manufacturing company in Onna Local Government Area of the state.
Entrepreneurs backed by the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) have generated more than $4.2 billion in cumulative revenue since the organisation began its grant programme in 2015, according to Somachi Chris-Asoluka, chief executive officer of the foundation.
Chris-Asoluka, revealed this during a virtual media briefing, where she also stated that over $100 million has been distributed to nearly 24,000 young entrepreneurs across Africa.
She noted that the beneficiaries of the programme have gone on to create about 1.5 million jobs, both directly and indirectly, across various sectors of the continent’s economy.
The performance, she said, has strengthened the resolve of the foundation and its partners to scale up financial support for emerging businesses.
Chris-Asoluka emphasised that the foundation’s interventions are anchored on the conviction that entrepreneurship is central to reducing poverty and reshaping Africa’s economic future.
She explained that selected participants receive a $5,000 seed capital grant, in addition to structured business training and mentorship designed to help them either expand existing enterprises or establish new ones.
Highlighting operational challenges faced by entrepreneurs, she identified inadequate electricity supply as a major constraint.
According to her, many small businesses spend as much as 60 per cent of their earnings on alternative power solutions, including generators and inverters.
To mitigate this challenge, she disclosed that Tony Elumelu, TEF founder, alongside the foundation’s leadership, has been engaging governments across Africa on the urgent need to improve power infrastructure.
She further stated that investments by programme beneficiaries cut across critical sectors such as agriculture, artificial intelligence, manufacturing, and technology innovation.
Chris-Asoluka also announced that the foundation’s 2026 cohort of entrepreneurs will be formally unveiled by Elumelu in Abuja.
A new financial operations platform, Morney, has officially launched in Nigeria to help businesses face growing pressure to digitise their finance processes as the country’s shift towards electronic invoicing.
Developed by Morzoe Technologies Inc. and introduced locally through its partner, BuySimply Services Limited, the platform is designed to help organisations streamline and automate financial workflows.
Speaking at the launch, Head of Growth at BuySimply, ‘Mide Olubi, said many Nigerian organisations still depend on fragmented systems such as emails and spreadsheets to manage expenses, supplier invoices and payments.
According to him, this approach often results in inefficiencies, delayed processes, weak oversight and a higher risk of errors.
He noted that Nigeria’s increasing adoption of electronic invoicing and tax digitisation frameworks is accelerating the need for structured and transparent financial systems. Businesses, he said, must move away from manual processes and adopt platforms that provide clear visibility into financial operations.
Morney integrates payments, procurement, expenses and invoicing into a single system, enabling finance teams to automate approvals, monitor transactions in real time and maintain accurate records.
The platform also supports supplier onboarding and invoice processing, helping organisations better manage operational spending.
The company revealed that businesses across sectors such as FMCG, manufacturing, energy, banking and telecommunications are already adopting the solution to improve efficiency and strengthen financial control.
It added that the partnership with BuySimply reflects a broader trend of digital transformation, as organisations respond to evolving regulatory requirements and the demand for more efficient financial management systems.
Dr Krishnan Ranganath (Krish) to Lead UniCloud Africa in Continental Digital Infrastructure Push
UniCloud Africa Limited, the premier pan-African cloud platform dedicated to advancing the continent’s digital sovereignty, has announced the appointment of Dr. Krishnan Ranganath as its Chief Executive Officer.
Dr. Krish, a seasoned industry leader known for building and scaling digital infrastructure while maintaining rigorous operational excellence, steps into the role as UniCloud Africa accelerates its mission to redefine the continent’s digital landscape.
The appointment coincides with the groundbreaking launch and immediate availability of UniCloud Africa’s enterprise-grade Sovereign Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure across six key markets: Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, Senegal, and Mozambique, even as it plans to launch in Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Uganda, Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire as part of further continental expansion.
Operating under the mission of “One Cloud, One Africa,” UniCloud Africa provides governments and enterprises with a world-class, fully compliant sovereign cloud alternative to high-latency offshore providers,ensuring a robust, scalable foundation tailored to Africa’s unique environmental and economic needs.
“UniCloud sits at the epicentre of Africa’s cloud evolution. We are committed to deploying 100% sovereign infrastructure across the continent. My focus is on driving high-growth partnerships and scaling the next generation of resilient, sustainable cloud infrastructure to accelerate the evolution of the African digital ecosystem,” said Dr. Krish, CEO of UniCloud Africa Limited.
He disclosed that his focus at UniCloud Africa is on driving high-growth partnerships and scaling the next generation of resilient, sustainable cloud infrastructure, and will deploy GPUs in certain economies based on market potential and need.
While admitting that the challenges from AI integration to the green energy transition are immense, Dr Krish believes that the opportunities are greater. “I am eager to collaborate with our partners and customers to redefine the digital frontier and accelerate the evolution of the African digital ecosystem,” he added.
Ladi Okuneye, Co-founder and outgoing CEO (who remains as a director on the board) remarked: “As we enter this new chapter of growth, I am confident that Dr Krish’s extensive experience in the African digital landscape will add immense value. His technical depth and regional insight make him the ideal leader to drive UniCloud Africa forward.”
Before he was appointed CEO of UniCloud Africa, Dr. Krish was, until last month, the Regional Executive – West Africa at the Africa Data Centres (ADC).
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