Nigerian Meter Manufacturers Lament Strategic Exclusion from Government Contracts

By Moses Patience Chat

The Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) on Thursday urged the Federal Government to lower the criteria for the ongoing 1.5 million electricity meter-provision bid being conducted by the World Bank Project Management Unit of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

While speaking to journalists in Abuja, the Association’s Secretary, Durosola Omogbemigun, an engineer, noted that the requirements of the bid exercise are fashioned to edge keep out local manufacturers that form a huge number of over 40 firms.

According to him, all the performance bonds and evaluation requirements by way of turnover, and by way of experience, seem to be designed to eliminate the local component. He appealed that the exercise should not end on July 11 without the inclusion of indigenous manufacturers and called on the government to either allow them to participate as Joint Ventures or individually.

Omogbemigun accused the exercise of requesting for criteria that a fledging industry like the Nigeria electricity meter industry cannot meet.

Condemning the unrealizable requirements, he said, “for instance, you needed to have a five-year experience and our industry is a nascent one of about three years at most.

“They require turnover of $16 million to $36 million for each of the five years. We find out that with the experience, and financial requirements that local companies are subject to, there is no way we could pass those criteria. Not only that if you wanted to do a JV with foreign companies can qualify you for that. What makes it worst is that we observed that the foreign companies are bringing in fully built meters.”

He explained that the local manufacturers can produce meters and all they require from the government is not funds but a financial guarantee to manufacture them.