Ahead of the expected meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), the confidence of government on the ability of Interstate Electrics to efficiently manage the Enugu Company is said have lately grown following revelations that Interstates is the only firm that has thus far attracted offshore financing.
The Offshore financing, sources said, came from banks whose operations are guided by “global best practices and strict governance and monetary policies”, as a reputable multi-national financing organisations, a BPE source said yesterday. It will be recalled that Interstates recently completed the payment of a balance of $94million for the DISCO.
And for the bank that strictly operates in accordance with global best practices to have granted the loan, suggest that thorough checks would have been carried out on the credibility and capability of Chrome group of companies of which Interstate is a subsidiary.
The BPE source added that a recent visit by the agency’s officials to one of Interstate consortium-the Metropolitan Electricity Authority of Thailand (MEA) was satisfactory, as doubts on their electricity distribution prowess were erased. Drawing from their foreign partnership experience therefore, Interstate is said to have developed the best structure thus far.
The consortium incorporated as a vehicle for the purpose of acquiring and operating Electricity Distribution Companies in Nigeria emerged the preferred bidder for the Enugu DISCO after a rigorous bidding process in the sale of PHCN in 2012. It has an Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC & C) loss reduction proposal of 20.83%, which is far above that of other competitors in the bidding process.
Apart from MEA, its other partners are Chrome Consortium Energy Nigeria Limited, and Powerhouse International Limited. They jointly parade competent team of electricity infrastructure engineers, owners/operators of electricity power distribution companies, upstream and downstream oil operators and empowerment partners, with a collective global experience of over 80 years.
One of the consortium’s technical partners, MEA, has over 50 years experience and is responsible for the distribution and sales of electricity to users in Bangkok and metropolitan vicinities, including Nonthaburi and Samutprakarn provinces. MEA’s distribution area covers 3,195 square kilometers divided into 14 districts with a population of about eight million and energy sales of 44,714 GWH of electricity, which is consistent with the structure and capability the Enugu Distribution company requires.
