Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has announced plans to disconnect several major customers, including the Nigerian Police and Army Headquarters, due to unpaid electricity bills. This action is set to commence on Monday, June 3, 2024.

In a statement titled “Notice of power disconnection for customers with outstanding bills,” AEDC revealed that the move targets customers who have failed to settle their electricity debts. The release, obtained by SaharaReporters on Saturday, emphasizes the necessity of timely payments to maintain and improve the company’s infrastructure and service delivery.

The affected entities include:

1. Nigerian Army Headquarters
2. Nigerian Air Force Headquarters
3. Defence Headquarters
4. Nigerian Police Force
5. Federal Capital Development Authority
6. Kogi State Government
7. Niger State Government
8. Nigerian Army Barracks
9. Power House
10. SGF House I
11. Head of Service
12. Federal Ministry of Education
13. Federal Ministry of Women Affairs
14. Federal Ministry of Industry
15. Federal Ministry of Trade
16. Federal Ministry of Interior
17. Federal Ministry of Water Resources
18. National Stadium
19. Goodluck Jonathan Athletics Hall
20. Federal Ministry of Finance
21. National Planning Commission (Budget)
22. Federal Ministry of Works
23. Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Abuja

The statement urged all customers with outstanding bills to clear their debts before the deadline to avoid disruptions in their power supply.

AEDC advised all indebted customers to contact their support services for further inquiries and payment options via phone at 08039070070, on social media @abujaelectricity, or through WhatsApp at 08152141414 or 08152151515.

MMS Africa, a provider of media management software solutions to broadcasters across Africa, has partnered with inq., a Convergence Partners company, to host its infrastructure, support its IT requirements and assist it with the software customisation on its broadcast solution.

“Since we opened our doors in 2017, the focus has always been on enabling the integration of multiple back-end software solutions for broadcasters who relied on these complex environments to fulfil their mandates,” says Abdul Mathee, Founder of MMS Africa.

“At the time, we partnered with international software vendors to deliver a solution, but it was still price prohibitive for many of the growing broadcasters across the continent.”

This was the catalyst for MMS Africa to begin developing its own software that would initially take four linear back-end broadcast processes to deliver a complete virtualisation solution. The company started working with several television and radio stations by taking care of their broadcasting software requirements for them to focus on the content.

“One of our first major contracts was that of the Namibian public broadcaster. With this deal in place, we had to invest more in infrastructure and wound up on the Teraco back-end. This enabled us to more effectively scale up to meet the demands of broadcasters as they began transitioning to a digital environment,” says Mathee.

It was at the end of November 2022 when MMS Africa approached inq. to assist it with its infrastructure and IT functions.

“Inq. did everything for us that was IT-focused. Inq. began with the hosting and supply of our infrastructure and the required support, as well as assisting us with the development and customisation of our software,” adds Mathee.

This comprehensive support was essential, given how the Namibian broadcaster was still heavily reliant on legacy systems and manual processes, which had not changed much since it split from the SABC in the early 90s.

“With the assistance of inq., we sit down with broadcasters like the one in Namibia, analyse their environment and identify the ways to improve workflows. It is about creating an ideal balance between people, systems and processes. Our focus is about relationships and using technology to automate, enhance and transition African broadcasters into a digital age,” says Mathee.

With the work done on creating a digital-first environment for the Namibian broadcaster, MMS Africa can now approach any broadcaster or media house in Africa and apply their learnings to customise the MMS’s platform to deliver on any requirement.

Assisting in the customisation of the MMS environment, the inq. team played a crucial role in enabling MMS Africa to take its solution to the next level.

“There was a significant amount of customisation required, but our team went the extra mile to assist MMS Africa to deliver on everything they needed,” says Ralph Berndt, Sales and Marketing Director at inq. SA.

According to Mathee, inq.’s presence across Africa contributed to the growth of their partnership.

“Thanks to inq., we are strongly positioned to expand into other markets and provide a complete multimedia solution without needing to spend years customising and adjusting anything. Much like Netflix can launch in 180 countries in one day, the work inq. has done with our team means we can effectively switch on broadcasters across the continent on our platform almost at the click of a button.

This has been an incredibly beneficial partnership for us and one we will look at enhancing even further in the coming months,” concludes Mathee.

Federal Government has secured a $500 million loan from the World Bank to address the problems faced by the 76 Distribution Companies (DisCos), the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has announced.

The funding approved by the World Bank Board of Directors, supports the Nigerian Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP} aimed at improving the financial and technical performance of the DisCos.

The Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP) is designed to enhance the financial and technical operations of the DsCos through capital investment and the financing of key components of their Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), which have been approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

According to a statement signed by Norninari Deezua, the Programme Officer and Public Communication Stakeholder and External Relations of BPE, the key areas where the loan would be largely deployed for improvement include: Bulk procurement of customer/retail meters and meter data management systems; Implementation of a Data Aggregation Platform (DAP); Strengthening governance and transparency within the DisCos; and Program Components.

Deezua stated that the DISREP comprises two main components: Program for Results (Pfork): Allocation: $345 million, Purpose: Support the implementation of selected PIP components and Implementatiion: Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE}, Investment Project Financing (IPF): Allocation: $155 million.

He said the Purpose is to finance the procurement of meters, a Data Aggregation Platform, and Technical Assistance.

The DISREP loan, especially the Investment Project Financing (IPF) component, is expected to significantly benefit the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) by closing the metering gap, reducing Aggregate Technical, Collection, and Commercial (ATC&C) losses, improving remittances and liquidity for the DisCos, enhancing the reliability of power supply, and increasing transparency and accountability within the DisCos.

The statement reads in part; “Significant progress has been made in the preparation of the DISREP Program, with several key milestones achieved, and approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on August 3, 2022. execution of the Financing Agreement by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. and the World Bank, adoption of the Program Operations Manual (POM) by BPE and TCN. obtained Legal Opinion from the Attorney-General of the Federation. Execution of the Subsidiary Loan Agreement, effective declaration of the DISREP Program on January 31, 2023, inauguration of the DISREP Technical Committee on May 16, 2024.”