The Federal Government should open up a lending window through which investors in the new metering plans would borrow money, the Meter Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MMAN), Executive Secretary, Mr. Muhideen Ibrahim, has said.

He said the new metering regulation ensures that investments have a life span of between 10 years and 15 years. In a recent interview, he said the new metering plan, which gave birth to the introduction of Meter Asset Providers (MAPs), requires huge funds, adding that the government could assist by giving investors or meter manufacturers a single- digit loan of five per cent.

He said MAPs have been meeting with power distribution companies’ (DisCos) on how to meter consumers, adding that they have mapped out strategies on how to achieve the goal. According to him, banks (local and foreign) were not giving credit to producers of meters because they do not have the capacity to pay back. The credit worthiness, Ibrahim said, of meter asset providers, is key to their ability to stay in business.

Source: The Nation