The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has blamed the power generation and distribution companies for the repeated collapse of the national electricity grid.
It, therefore, asked the Gencos and Discos to “up their games” in the delivery of electricity.
The Chairman, Technical and Monitoring Committee, and member of the governing board of TCN, Nsima Ekere, disclosed this on the side-lines of the two-day official visit and inspection of the TCN store at Ojo and other transmission stations in Lagos by the board.
He said the Discos and Gencos should make adequate investments in their networks and infrastructures for Nigerians to enjoy some level of power stability.
He said TCN was not responsible for poor services to electricity consumers, as the faults should be traced to the generating and utility firms.
Ekere advised both electricity distribution companies and generation companies to improve on their capacities to distribute and generate power.
He said, “When this board came on stream, we were concerned about the issue of grid collapse. Then we set up a committee to look into the issue and we saw that it is a complex issue.
“The fault is not TCN. It is from the Gencos and Discos because sometimes when we tell them to take more power, they take less. All these impact negatively on the grid.
“That customers are able to get power does not depend on TCN capacity alone. The Gencos and Discos have to generate and distribute enough power for supply to improve.”
He said TCN was in the process of installing a SCADA system, which according to him, would help create stability and eliminate grid collapse.
Despite the economic headwinds that characterised 2022, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc (DSR) will pay N18.22 billion as dividends to shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2022, while also targeting the production of over 170,000 tonnes of sugar next season. The dividend payout will translate to N1.50 kobo per share held by shareholders.
Chairman of the Company, Aliko Dangote said: “The shareholders are very happy with the way we have been running their company and also in re-investing the profit into the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) for the sugar industry. We are going to play our part in ensuring that Nigeria becomes self-sufficient in sugar within a very short period. We are not the only players, but we will surely play our part. We should be able to produce over 170,000 tonnes which are by far, in the history of Nigeria, the highest to be produced locally.”
The company recorded an impressive turnover of N403 billion, a 46 per cent increase over N276 billion recorded during the same period in the year before, and posted a Profit before Tax (PBT) of N82 billion.
Dangote attributed the company’s remarkable performance to the pragmatic approach the management deployed by focusing on continued cost and process optimisation, improved efficiencies in every area of operations, and service delivery to our customers.
He pledged that the management would continue to implement strategic actions to sustain the performance with the support of all stakeholders with complete adherence to the tenets of the Federal Government’s Sugar Master Plan.
Dangote said part of the success recorded by Dangote Sugar was made possible by the management’s continued implementation of the Dangote Sugar Development Master Plan with the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Dangote Sugar Refinery’s Numan operations, facilities and land development, as well as the development of the Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited, the greenfield sugar project, and Tunga in Nasarawa State.
He said: “Concerted efforts were made during the year to rise above the various challenges that came about due to the COVID–19 lockdown which affected project timelines considerably and continued to generally impact economic activities due to its spill-over effect, which also led to the lack of forex to finance most of the project deliverables.
“We however continued to surge ahead supported by the various stakeholders in the industry and government parastatals, with the resolve to ensure that the goals of the Nigeria Sugar Development Master Plan are achieved.”
The Company Chairman noted that during the year under review, the first phase of the Sugar Master Plan implementation period came to an end and that the Federal Government approved the second phase over the next 10 years. “This extension came on the back of the review of the first phase by the National Sugar Development Council and other government parastatals with cognisance of the challenges and several circumstances that were unforeseen which riddled the first phase of the programme,” he added.
Dangote stated that the board and management were, however, focused on the achievement of the goals of the strategic initiative, and thus considerable progress was recorded in the project development, despite the numerous challenges faced.
Not minding the obstacles ahead, Dangote promised that the management would continue to create sustainable value for all stakeholders through an inclusive approach to growth and development, with continuous engagement with all parties, to enable the company make a positive impact, support poverty eradication and food security, infrastructure development, empowerment for members of the immediate communities, and the society at large.
In her remarks, the Coordinator of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association, Mrs. Adebisi Bakare expressed the satisfaction of shareholders with the performance of the company, noting that despite all the encumbrances in the sugar sub-sector of the economy, the company still performed far and above the previous year.
She urged the board and the management to continue in the direction they have taken to get the company to the current winning, assuring that the management has the support of the shareholders to post even better performance in the coming years.
According to the data at the FMDQ Security Exchange where forex is traded officially, the dollar to naira exchange rate stood at (undisclosed).
This would mean that the Nigerian currency either gained or lose in value against the United States dollar, as the foreign exchange (forex) trading closed at N460.43 per $1 on Wednesday, April 12.
How much is the dollarto naira at the black market today?
Going by sources at the Bureau De Change (BDC) in Lagos, the dollar to naira last traded between ₦567 and ₦745 with an average of ₦684.00 in the black market in the state.
It is however pertinent to note that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not recognise the parallel market (black market), as it has directed individuals who want to engage in forex to approach their respective banks.
According to the data at the FMDQ Security Exchange where forex is traded officially, the dollar to naira exchange rate stood at (undisclosed). This would mean that the Nigerian currency either gained or lose in value against the United States dollar, as the foreign exchange (forex) trading closed at N460.43 per $1 on Wednesday, April 12.
How much is the dollarto naira at the black market today?
Going by sources at the Bureau De Change (BDC) in Lagos, the dollar to naira last traded between ₦735 and ₦740 with an average of ₦737.50 in the black market in the state.It is however pertinent to note that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not recognise the parallel market (black market), as it has directed individuals who want to engage in forex to approach their respective banks.