The inability of the country’s electricity sector to meet the increasing demand for electricity is no longer news. Currently, with only half of the installed capacity of 8,900 megawatts available on the national power grid, and around 60 per cent of the population having no access to electricity according to giz.de worldwide. The disparaging power situation no doubt has continued to be a source of worry as there seems to be no end in sight to the epileptic power supply as experienced in most parts of the country.

But as the country seeks to meet its target of power for all by 2030, a task which the government says would gulp N62bn what does the situation hold for manufacturers across the country?

Feeling the pang just like SMEs, manufacturers across the country are seeking ways to generate electricity for their business growth. This situation has become the new normal in Nigeria as businesses strive to keep and sustain their businesses.

The Vice President Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (North West zone), Ibrahim Usman told Political Economist magazine that the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria is working hard to ameliorate the power situation for its members “which is why we have created our own electricity company; manufacturers power Development Company. The whole idea is to help ensure that we get electricity to our members in different clusters (68) of the country”, he said.

“We’re not waiting on the government to improve what is coming from the grid; we’re concentrating off grid and small scalable independent power plants in our different clusters nationwide”.

Usman added that the association sees renewable energy as being very important in this regard. “You can now have a little bit of diesel, gas and the rest for solar. Renewable energy is actually the way to go since we do not have gas in every part of the country; especially in the North”.

He commended the federal government on its policy which has birth the eligibility close which allows its members to produce and put power into the grid and the opportunity to discuss with the DISCOs and negotiate with them in terms of charges. “Don’t forget that the whole country has been divided and given to the DISCOs to supply electricity in their zones. So we have to talk to them and this is because the government has created the enabling environment between us and any DISCO.