Wale Jagun
The Lagos State Government has unveiled an initiative tagged, “The Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon 2020”, in furtherance of ongoing efforts to address the metering gap in the State and entre country.
The initiative was unveiled by Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, in collaboration with Eko Innovation Centre via a virtual press conference held on Thursday, July 30, 2020.
In a statement released, the Lagos State Government said that it will leverage the availability of bright local talents in Nigeria to develop and produce affordable, smart, electricity meters for consumers to significantly reduce the revenue leakages in the sector and ultimately improve last-mile electricity supply.
Governor Sanwo-Olu in his remarks stated that the launch “marks a significant milestone in the implementation plan of the State Government towards improving access to electricity in the State/
He said that the initiative is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (No.7) of the United Nations, which aspires to drive universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030.”
While maintaining that increased electricity access is one of the priority mandates of his administration, Sanwo-Olu asserted that:
“it will ultimately drive economic development of the State to enable it achieve the objective of Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy”
“The Lagos Smart Meter Initiative is an important way for the Lagos Government to demonstrate its commitment to improving electricity access and reliability for Lagosians. We believe that adequate metering of Lagos and in turn Nigeria, would increase willingness to pay for electricity, improve productivity, and more importantly, continue to enhance the living conditions of our people”, the Governor said.
He called on all relevant stakeholders – electricity sector players, technology experts, investors, regulators – to support this worthy cause as his administration strives to ensure sustainable electricity in Lagos.
Honourable Minister for Power, Mr. Jedy Agba explained that local design and production of affordable meters would be transformational for the industry and the economy at large and, therefore, solicited support for the project.
He identified Lagos as important in terms of size, economy and resources with a population of over 20million and being the 5th highest GDP in Africa, pointing out that getting access to electricity right in Lagos is critical to achieving the same feat across the entire country.
“Electricity is an essential service, and we need to ensure that the benefits of smart meters flow to everyone. I call on all relevant stakeholders in the sector to support this innovative and impactful initiative – industry regulators, electricity sector players, technology experts, and fund providers”, he stated.
Mr Olalere Odusote, the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Lagos State, also contributing said the initiative is expected to provide Lagosians access to affordable smart meters, improve electricity supply, monitoring, and trust between electricity providers and end users while preventing revenue leakage.
