…As U.S. lauds AU on Africa’s integration***

The Head, Communication Department, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), Mr Chukwuemeka Ezeh today indicated that the company has taken delivery of over 200,000 units of prepaid metres, and ready for distribution to its customers.

Ezeh who indicated  this in Awka, also said the company had enough metres to install for customers and appealed for calm and understanding, as due process had to be followed in distributing them.

He said the investment of N10 billion into the metering project was a demonstration of EEDC’s commitment to have all customers in the zone metered.

The communication officer said the amount was a far cry from what was required to metre its over 700,000 customers, adding that Distribution Companies needed support to succeed.

“We are presently running our in-house metering process in which we have committed over N10 billion but that has not scratched the surface because of the number of customers on the network.

“We do not have the enormous financial muscle to metre every customer at the same time but consciously and gradually, we are making progress.

“So far, we have taken delivery of over 200, 000 units of prepaid metres and as we push them out more are being supplied; we have a good number of metres to give out but we want customers to be patient.

“We are aggressively metering our customers and as a way of pursuing the project, most utility vehicles in our offices have been mobilised for the metering staff and in February, 4,000 units were installed,” he said.

Ezeh reiterated that prepaid metres were free and warned customers on the EEDC network not to give anybody money to get the device as it would not yield any special benefit.

He urged those seeking installation of prepaid metres to apply through the EEDC website and stay on the queue until it was their turn.

Ezeh also said it was unfortunate that while the company was making effort to metre people, some customers were rejecting prepaid metres and others bypassing it.

He said the regulation in the industry did not allow customers to buy directly from prepaid metre manufacturers or dealers.

Ezeh said there was the need to review the tariff system in the power sector as the prevailing Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) module no longer allowed for cost reflective billing.

“MYTO is not cost reflective; it was designed when dollar was about N198 or so but now dollar is about N360, what that means is that we buy power at N198 and sell at N360 depending on the prevailing rate of dollar.

“DISCOs are those bearing the shortfall, imagine buying energy for N4 billion a month and struggle to collect N3 billion.”

Ezeh said EEDC had compiled and would publish the name of debtors and energy thieves on the network soon.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has lauded the African Union Commission for its efforts at Africa’s integration, describing it as “a force for good”.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, after his meeting with Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mr Moussa Mahamat, at the Commission’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, said he was in Africa ‘to listen”

Tillerson said “the purpose of my trip to this continent is to listen. I think it is important that we listen to what the priorities of the countries here on the continent are.

“And see where there is good alignment between their priorities and our areas of greatest interest as well. And I think we’ve already found there are many”.

He applauded the Africa Centres for Disease Control, saying it has been quite successful in tracking and responding to disease outbreaks on the continent adding, health security also advanced national security, economic development, and political stability.

On trade, Tillerson said U.S. supported AU’s economic regional integration efforts to lower intra-trade barriers on the continent and boost more intra-regional trade.

He said U.S. appreciated AU’s very strong statements on South Sudan at the recent AU summit, adding U.S. truly calls on all parties to abide by the cessation of hostilities and be open to compromise for the good of the South Sudanese people.

Tillerson commended the AU’s Mission in Somalia, saying it is clearly an example of countries coming together to counter terrorism, promote stability, and enable delivery of much-needed aid to the Somali people.

He also discussed ways to ensure the G5 Sahel forces have the necessary resources to continue their fight against terrorism, and how we can put in place more sustainable funding models so they have greater certainty around how to plan the future fight against terrorism in the Sahel region as well.

Tillerson said fighting corruption was another area of common cause between Africa and U.S. adding, we’re very pleased to see that the African Union has named 2018 as the year for winning the fight against corruption.

“From high-level secret deals to petty bribes on the street, corruption really does steal the precious resources from job creators and entrepreneurs and others who would promote benefits to the greater society and to the citizens of those countries.

“Good governance and transparency are essential to creating the conditions for economic growth and prosperity, and we look forward to continuing our joint efforts with the African Union to improve the business environment on the continent.

“But transparency really is an essential requirement for good business conditions and will attract greater investment and economic activity as well.

“That includes supporting greater intra- and global-trade investments in Africa as the environment creates competitive conditions,” he stressed.

Tillerson reiterated U.S. desire for more African nations to apply concrete diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea, noting the global maximum pressure campaign, which has been supported by multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

Mahamat, in his remarks, said his discussions with the U.S. envoy was fruitful, noting the visit was taking place at a time when Africa was firmly embarking on the path to integration and reform.

“We informed him of our efforts aimed at establishing a market of more than a billion people, and to stress that a strong AU is in the interest, not only of the continent, but that of our partners also, including the U.S.

“We have agreed to work for the strengthening of the trade and commercial relations between Africa and the U.S., including the post-AGOA – the African Growth and Opportunity Act,” he said.

Mahamat said they also talked about some conflict situations faced by the continent, and the best way the U.S. could support the African efforts in order to promote peace and security.

He said they underscored the importance of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, calling for the scrupulous observance and compliance with international instruments.

He recalled the commitment of the AU to multilateralism as being the most effective tool to promote peace and prosperity.