- Says agency receiving orders from Cameroon, Uganda for locally produced equipment
As part of efforts to stabilise the electricity supply in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) to fast-track plans to set up a transformer production plant in Nigeria, in collaboration with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC).
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NASENI, Professor Mohammed Sani Haruna, who disclosed this to State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday, also said his agency had received orders from Uganda, Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire to produce and supply laboratory equipment for secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
Haruna, who said he was at the Villa to present NASENI’s third quarter reports from July to September 2022 with a focus on her activities and finances to the President, disclosed that the progress of the project had been slowed down by the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in China.
According to him, the plant, when established, would produce between 6.5 and 10 megawatts of transformers of all sizes and different capacities to meet local demands and Nigerian standards.
Haruna said the President, who is also the Chairman of the Governing Board of NASENI, “is anxious to see the output of this product, its impact on the availability of power, because our power supply will never be stable until we produce some components locally, including the transformer.”
Meanwhile, revealing the revenue-generating efforts of the agency for the 2023 fiscal year, Haruna noted that NASENI has implemented various local and international contracts to manufacture and supply laboratory equipment.
“Yes, we are generating revenue. Our Solar manufacturing plant is a limited liability company of the government. That is revenue for the government. Other activities are the production of laboratory equipment for secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
“Just yesterday, we received orders from Uganda. They want a supply of this laboratory equipment from us. That is a revenue source for the government.
“Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire are also patronising these products. Payment for this goes directly into the consolidated revenue account. So, that is some of our revenue generating activities”, he disclosed.
On collaboration with State governors, NASENI boss said the agency worked with State governments as he briefed them at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on their activities.
He said almost all the states had asked NASENI to repair their grounded tractors and repaid the funds in five years.
The Nation
