Cameroon: Ghanaian Businessman, Togbe Afede XIV, Explores Opportunities In The Power Sector

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Ghanaian Businessman and President of Ghana’s National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV, who was recently crowned Entrepreneur of the Decade, has taken his passion for the development of Ghana and Africa to the territories of the Republic of Cameroon. Togbe Afede XIV, who is the Founder of SAS Finance Group and Africa World Airlines, and Co-founder of Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Ltd, led a team from Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Ltd, one of the Independent Power Producers in Ghana, to explore opportunities in the power sector of Cameroon. The team also explored the prospects for Accra-Yaounde-Accra flights, via Douala, by African World Airlines. During the visit, the team met with the Minister for Water Resources and Energy, the Director of Electricity at the Ministry, and top executives of Electricity Sector Regulatory Agency.
Nigeria: Stop Singing Praises And Work To Resolve Power Problems –Nigerians Tell Power Minister
The team was also privileged to meet with His Excellency the Prime Minister of the Republic of Cameroon, Dr Joseph Dion Ngute. The Prime Minister, on behalf of the President and the people of Cameroon, welcomed his guests and expressed the hope that Sunon Asogli Power and Africa World Airlines would invest in Cameroon. The Prime Minister, who is also a traditional leader, expressed excitement about Togbe Afede’s plans to promote collaboration among African traditional leaders. He stressed the importance of Africa to Africa collaboration in moving the continent forward. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com

Nigeria: It Makes No Sense For Oil To Be Sold Cheaper In Nigeria Than Saudi Arabia —Buhari

Nigeria’s President H. E. Muhammadu Buhari has said it will make no sense for Nigeria to sell petroleum products at prices lower than those sold in neighbouring countries. The punchng.com quoted Nigerian leader as saying while delivering a speech on the occasion of Nigeria’s 60th Independence Anniversary at Aso Villa, Abuja on Thursday. Buhari said, “Fellow Nigerians, in addition to public health challenges of working to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, we have suffered a significant drop in our foreign exchange earnings and internal revenues due to 40 per cent drop in oil prices and steep drop in economic activities, leading to a 60 per cent drop in government revenue. “Our government is grappling with the dual challenge of saving lives and livelihoods in face of drastically reduced resources. “In this regard, sustaining the level of petroleum prices is no longer possible. The government, since coming into office has recognized the economic argument for adjusting the price of petroleum. But the social argument about the knock-on effect of any adjustment weighed heavily with the government.” Continuing, the President added, “Petroleum prices in Nigeria are to be adjusted. We sell now at N161 per litre. A comparison with our neighbours will illustrate the point. “Chad, which is an oil-producing country, charges N362 per litre. Niger, also an oil-producing country, sells oil at N346 per litre. Ghana, another oil-producing country, petroleum pump price is N326 per litre. Egypt charges N211 per litre. Saudi Arabia charges N168 per litre. “It makes no sense for oil to be cheaper in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia.” Source:www.energynewsafrica.com

ExxonMobil To Proceed With Payara Development Offshore Guyana

U.S oil and gas giant, ExxonMobil, has made its final investment decision to proceed with the Payara field offshore development in Guyana after receiving government approvals. Payara is the third project in the Stabroek Block and is expected to produce up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day after startup in 2024, using the Prosperity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. The $9 billion development will target an estimated resource base of about 600 million oil-equivalent barrels. Ten drill centers are planned along with up to 41 wells, including 20 production and 21 injection wells. “ExxonMobil is committed to building on the capabilities from our Liza Phase 1 and 2 offshore oil developments as we sanction the Payara field and responsibly develop Guyana’s natural resources,” Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Oil & Gas Company said in a press statement. “We continue to prioritize high-potential prospects in close proximity to discoveries and maximize value for our partners, which include the people of Guyana he added.” ExxonMobil’s first offshore Guyana project, Liza Phase 1, began producing in late 2019, well ahead of the industry average for development time. Liza Phase 2, remains on track to begin producing oil by early 2022. It will produce up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day at peak rates using the Liza Unity FPSO, which is under construction in Singapore. ExxonMobil is evaluating additional development opportunities in the Stabroek Block, including Redtail, Yellowtail, Mako and Uaru resources, and plans to have five drillships operating offshore Guyana by the end of this year. As new projects proceed, investment in the Guyana economy increases. More than 2,000 Guyanese are now supporting project activities on and offshore, a 50 percent increase since 2019. ExxonMobil and its prime contractors have spent over $300 million with more than 700 local companies since 2015. More than 2,500 Guyanese companies are registered with the Centre for Local Business Development, which was founded by ExxonMobil and its co-venturers in 2017 to build local business capacity to support global competitiveness. The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers) with current discovered recoverable resources estimated at more than 8 billion oil-equivalent barrels. The 18 discoveries on the block to date have established the potential for at least five FPSO vessels producing more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2026. ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 percent interest. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com

Nigeria: Stop Singing Praises And Work To Resolve Power Problems –Nigerians Tell Power Minister

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A section of Nigerians have called on the country’s Minister for Power, Engr Sale. Mamman, to stop what they described as praise singing and empty promises and instead fix the power problems that are making life unbearable in the country. This came on the back of a tweet by the Power Minister on Wednesday, which sought to assure Nigerians that Buhari’s administration was working to fix the power problems. In the tweet sighted by energynewsafrica.com, Engr Mamman, said: “In the near future, we, Nigerians, will be able to look back with pride and say the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari fixed and transformed the power sector. We are on the right track.” However, his tweet attracted criticisms from Nigerians who felt the Buhari-administration was not doing well to address the power problems. A twitter, Ahmad Shehu Ph.D replied: “Stop the talking and do the work, Mr Minister. You’re not an ordinary citizen and shouldn’t, therefore, spend the data taxpayers bought for you in ranting and unrealistic praise singing.” Another twitter handler, Engr. Ubongabasi Akpabio said: “What is he actually doing? Because if we want to do a comparative analysis between his regime and that of Goodluck Jonathan, we could boldly say without prejudice that Goodluck Jonathan took more decisive steps towards augmenting power generation, transmission and distribution.” Nigeria has 12,500 MW of installed generation capacity, being largely dependent on hydropower and fossil (gas) thermal power sources; 12.5% and 87.5% respectively. However, only 3,500 MW to 5,000 MW is typically available for onward transmission to the final consumer. NIGERIA ENERGY SECTOR OVERVIEW Nigeria is the largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, but limitations in the power sector constrain growth. Nigeria is endowed with large oil, gas, hydro and solar resource, and it already has the potential to generate 12,522 megawatts (MW) of electric power from existing plants, but most days is only able to generate around 4,000 MW, which is insufficient. Nigeria has privatized its distribution companies, so there is a wide range of tariffs. Generation Capacity • Installed Capacity: 12,522 MW • Thermal: 10,142 MW • Hydro: 2,380 MW • Reached Financial Close: 3,034 MW • Power Africa 2030 Pipeline: 11,750 MW Connections • Current Access Rate: 45% • Rural: 36% Urban: 55% • Households without Power: 20 million • Target: Universal access by 2030 • Power Africa New Off-Grid Connections: 454,432 • Power Africa New Grid Connections: 496,723 Source:www.energynewsafrica.com

Shell Plans To Cut Up To 9,000 Jobs

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Oil major Shell has confirmed plans to cut between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs in a push to save up to $2.5 billion by 2022. The company on Wednesday said the move is expected to deliver sustainable annual cost savings of between $2 to $2.5 billion by 2022. This will partially contribute to the announced underlying operating cost reduction of $3 to $4 billion by the first quarter of 2021. According to Shell, job reductions of 7,000 to 9,000 are expected, including around 1,500 people who have agreed to take voluntary redundancy this year, by the end of 2022. Upstream In the upstream sector, Shell said it expects production to be between 2,150 and 2,250 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, which includes a production impact of 60 to 70 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day from hurricanes in the US Gulf of Mexico. Realised liquids prices in the first two months of this quarter reflected a 15 to 20 per cent discount to Brent, similar to the discount in the second quarter of 2020. Realised gas prices are trending in line with Henry Hub. Depreciation is expected to be at a similar level as in the second quarter of 2020. Integrated gas In the area of gas, Shell said it expects production is expected to be between 820 and 860 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day and LNG liquefaction volumes are expected to be between 7.9 and 8.3 million tonnes. Trading and optimisation results are expected to be below average. A one-off tax charge is expected to have a negative impact on Adjusted Earnings in the range of $100 to $200 million; no cash impact is expected in the third quarter. Approximately 80 per cent of Shell’s term sales of LNG in 2020 have been oil price linked with a price-lag of up to 6 months. Consequently, lower realised prices due to this price-lag are expected to have a significant impact on LNG margins in the third quarter. Shell said that CFFO can be impacted by margining resulting from movements in the forward commodity curves up until the last day of the quarter. Source: www.energynewsafrica.com

Mozambique President Named Africa Oil & Power’s “Person Of The Year” For 2020

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The President of Mozambique, H.E. Filipe Nyusi, has been selected as Africa Oil & Power’s “Person of the Year” for 2020. This prestigious award is presented to exceptional individuals who display true leadership and innovative thinking in steering their countries or organizations to the forefront of the global energy sector. President Nyusi has been at the helm of Mozambique’s energy sector during its many recent successes, including several multibillion gas projects which are now in development in this Southern African country. These natural gas projects, once fully actualized, represent more than three times the country’s current GDP, with the Exxon-led Rovuma LNG project valued at $23.9 billion; the country’s Total-led gas project valued at $23 billion; and the $4.7 billion Coral FLNG project, which is expected to reach first gas in 2022. “H.E. Filipe Nyusi has led the charge in creating an enabling environment in the energy industry and the broader economy that paved the way for extraordinary energy deals which Mozambique currently enjoys,” said Jude Kearney, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Service Industries and Finance at the US Department of Commerce during the Clinton Administration and currently President of Kearney Africa Advisors. “I can think of no better individual in Africa’s energy space on whom to bestow this award. Mozambique has a bright future ahead as international gas projects drive new growth, job creation, economic development and prosperity,” added Kearney. Not only has President Nyusi been instrumental in the deals coming through, he has also helped drive a focus on national capacity building and has made sure the projects set aside natural gas for domestic use, setting the country on a path towards economic diversification and energy security. “H.E. President Filipe Nyusi has worked hard to create an environment that ensures that a strong gas industry will create jobs, boost entrepreneurship, protect our environment, diversify our economy for the benefit of all the citizens and generate much-needed revenue for the government. The President has made the energy sector a crucial component of the economic well-being of Mozambique,” said Florival Mucave, CEO of the Mozambican Oil & Gas Chamber. “H.E. President Filipe Nyusi has taken Mozambique from a place of relative obscurity in the energy markets, to a place of leadership in the global natural gas industry,” said Renée Montez-Avinir, Managing Director of AOP. “His leadership has been instrumental in bringing these mega natural gas projects to fruition, providing vital investment security to close several multi-billion dollar deals. There is no doubt, the natural gas projects will transform Mozambique, bringing progress and prosperity to the entire country and placing Mozambique at the forefront of a global natural gas revolution,” added Montez-Avinir. In office since 2015, Nyusi has aggressively pursued an anti-corruption campaign; continued to lead the country in peace; and has successfully navigated the country through incredible challenges, including Tropical Cyclone Idai that struck Mozambique in 2019 and the economic fallout presented by COVID-19 this year. H.E. Filipe Nyusi has steered Mozambique through incredible challenges, and is leading the country to demonstrable economic success. Africa Oil & Power will present H.E. Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique, with highest honors at the Mozambique Gas & Power 2021 event. Source: www.energynewsafrica.com

Ghana: Solar Industry Will Boom Under My Leadership–NDC’s Flag-bearer

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Flag-bearer of Ghana’s largest opposition political party, NDC, John Dramani Mahama has promised to make the solar energy sector buoyant as part of his efforts to grow the energy sector if he wins this year’s elections to be president again. The former Ghana’s leader said he is committed to delivering a Golden Age of renewables in Ghana “We’re committed to delivering a Golden Age of renewables,” he said in a tweet on September 25, 2020. He added: “This, we’ll do by providing incentives for investment in the manufacture of solar panels and accessories in Ghana. We’ll also encourage the use of roof-top solar by artisans and small businesses.” He also noted that the youth of Ghana deserve decent and sustainable jobs. To that end, he said he is determined to create over one million jobs, both in the public and private sectors of the local economy. He has asked Ghanaians to believe and have faith in him that he will deliver this promise should he win this year’s elections. Mr Mahama said: “You’re all that matter to me! “You deserve decent job opportunities! This is why the next NDC government will provide opportunities for the creation of a minimum one million new and sustainable jobs in the public & private sectors. I guarantee you this will be done!” Ghanaians will go to the polls on December 7, 2020, to elect a new President and Members of Parliament to steer the affairs of the country from 2021-2024. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com

Ghana Energy Awards Nominations Close Today

Nominations into the prestigious Ghana Energy Awards (GEA) 2020 officially close today September 30, following a three-month-long window since July this year. The 4th Edition of the annual energy awards scheme, under the theme: “Excelling in Crisis: the Energy Sector in a COVID-19 Era,” will recognise excellence and innovation as well as celebrate the players making tremendous impact in the country’s energy sector. The 2020 event is particularly exceptional as it is dedicated to acknowledging the interventions of organisations and individuals in the sector toward complementing government’s efforts in alleviating the burden of the impact of the pandemic on Ghanaians. GEA’20 features fourteen (14) competitive categories for the power, petroleum and renewable subsectors; including the most coveted award of the night, Energy Personality of the Year-both male and female, Chief Executive of the Year-Power and Petroleum, Innovation Project of the Year, Energy Company of the Year, Energy Institution of the Year, Brand of the Year, as well as Reporter of the Year among others. The event also boasts Non-Competitive categories such as the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Exemplary Leadership Award, Women in Energy Excellence Award and the Osagyefo Young Leadership Award. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy and the World Energy Council Ghana, this industry-owned initiative is organised by the Energy Media Group in partnership with CH-Business Consulting Ghana. Industry partners are the Bui Power Authority, Ghana National Gas Company, Volta River Authority, Energy Commission, Petroleum Commission, Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Association of Oil Marketing Companies, Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana and Meinergy Technologies. The event is slated for Friday October 30, 2020 at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra with strict adherence to all COVID-19 safety protocols. Organisations in the sector are encouraged to send in their nominations to the awards website www.ghanaenergyawards.com or email: [email protected].

More Than 80% Of UK Oil Workers Consider Leaving The Industry-Report

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More than 80% of UK oil and gas workers are considering leaving the industry, energyvoice.com, has reported citing a new report from climate action groups. The Platform, Friends of the Earth Scotland and Greenpeace surveyed 1,383 offshore workers ( 4.5% of the overall workforce) and found four in five (81%) would consider switching to another sector. The findings echo a similar Scottish Renewables report from August, which surveyed just 100 workers. Oil and Gas UK has responded, calling some of the claims around worker engagement and problems with movement into renewables “misleading“. Job security, low morale and fears their community becoming a “wasteland region” were among the main concerns cited, along with “barriers” to entry into renewables. Of those surveyed in this new report, 43% said they had been made redundant or furloughed since March. It comes as talks are advancing on a North Sea Transition Deal from the UK Government to support the sector, which the Oil and Gas Authority has said is hoped to be delivered by the year’s end. However, the climate groups said this deal has “no vehicle for consulting oil and gas workers”. Based on the findings, Platform, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Scotland recommended workers should be “at the heart of shaping policies”, that the industry work to improve job security and morale, and creation of better opportunities for entry into the renewables industry. A major concern for the UK wind sector, for example, is that components are generally manufactured overseas, meaning Scottish yards like those of the firm BiFab, have consistently missed out. One respondent suggested that a condition of receiving a Scottish wind licence should be that fabrication work goes to a Scottish yard. Gabrielle Jeliazkov, just transition lead campaigner for Platform, said: “If the UK government is serious about levelling up and transitioning to renewable energy, workers’ voices must be at the centre of that transition process. “The government must ensure oil and gas workers are supported into secure and sustainable jobs.” The study highlighted that 91% of respondents had not heard the term “Just Transition”, referring to areas like renewables and decommissioning providing sustainable jobs as the sector gradually moves away from fossil fuels. One respondent said: “I just think it’s a better work environment out of the oil and gas industry. It’s always boom and bust to some degree but the last five years have not been a pleasant environment to work in – that’s five years of mental toil.” Offshore union RMT, who said 300 of its members were surveyed, welcomed the report. General secretary Mick Cash said: “The skills and expertise of offshore oil and gas workers are key to a Just Transition. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com

Total Joins BP In Projecting An Oil Demand Peak Around 2030

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Total SE has joined the ranks of oil companies anticipating a peak for the industry in the coming decade, saying demand growth will end around 2030. While the French energy giant’s analysis is more conservative than that of BP, which earlier this month said the era of oil-market growth was already over, it adds to the chorus of executives and investors predicting rapid change for the industry. Energy demand increased in all the scenarios considered in Total’s Energy Outlook report published on Tuesday, but most of the gains were seen being satisfied by low-carbon power. Electricity will comprise 30% to 40% of final energy demand in 2050, up from 20% today, it said. The outlook was better for the company’s other main product, natural gas, which is expected to play a key role in energy markets for decades to come as a less carbon-intensive bridge fuel. Total and its European peers are channeling investment into clean energy such as solar and wind, battery technology and car-charging networks. While investors in BP and Royal Dutch Shell Plc appear skeptical of the transition, particularly after suffering big dividend cuts earlier this year, Total has so far avoided any big stumbles. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com

Ghana: GRIDCo Completes Work On Tafo-Akwatia Transmission Line

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Ghana’s power transmission company, GRIDCo, has announced the completion of maintenance works on the Tafo to Akwatia Transmission line (F2Q) in the Eastern Region of the West African nation. In a Twitter post sighted by energynewsafrica.com, the company said the line has also been restored to full service. Energynewsafrica.com reported last week that work was ongoing on the Tafo to Akwatia transmission line. The CEO of GRIDCo, Ing. Jonathan Amoako-Baah, was at the site last week with a section of the Management team, to inspect the maintenance works. Source: www.energynewsafrica.com

Libya: Former Libyan Foreign Bank CEO Arrested For Misappropriating Oil Wealth

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The former CEO of Libyan Foreign Bank, which was bank responsible for handling Libya’s oil wealth, has reportedly been arrested for fraud. According to Bloomberg, Mohamed bin Youssef has been charged with “squandering funds and mismanaging the bank’s assets.” Libya’s oil revenues have been a sticking point in Libya’s recovery, with warring factions controlling either the oilfields or the money—not both. The bank’s leadership has been another source of contention, which resulted in bin Youssef being ousted back in 2018 for allegedly falsifying profits and making risky investments that LFB’s chairman says cost the bank $1.6 billion. But things might not be that clear. In fact, who currently sits in the bank’s top spot is almost as clear as who is in charge of the county’s oil. Bin Youssef claims that he is still officially listed as the bank’s CEO. Libya’s oil revenues have been hit hard by the blockade that has been in effect since January, with Libya’s National Oil Company (NOC) claiming that it has lost billions in oil revenue to date. While some ports and oilfields have reopened in the past week, Libya’s oil production is just a shell of what it used to be when it was producing more than a million barrels per day. Oil prices were stressed on Monday as reports of the blockade liftings showed that Libya’s oil production had risen from 100,000 bpd to 250,000 bpd. However, these central bank uncertainties may trigger even more chaos in the oil sector as warring parties try to make sure “their man” is installed in the top bank position. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com

Schlumberger And Milaha Ink Cooperation Deal In Qatar

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Milaha, a maritime and logistics organizations in the Middle East, has entered into a formal agreement to cooperate with a giant American oilfield services firm, Schlumberger. The Offshore & Marine pillar of Milaha signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will support value building projects while jointly driving Tawteen initiatives for Qatar, Milaha said in a statement. Led by Qatar Petroleum, the “Tawteen” program aims to localize the energy sector’s supply chain and create new investment opportunities to retain ‘economic value’ in Qatar. Signed as a five-year joint development project, it will include a Qatar-owned, -flagged, and -operated Oil Well Stimulation Vessel. The first of these vessels will be designed and outfitted in the country, creating the inaugural FLEXSTIM platform, which will be modified, owned and operated locally. Pre-engineering for this significant scheme has already begun and will evolve during the final quarter of 2020. The resulting Qatar-owned value chain will be a joint service that enhances the expertise of a global multinational service firm like Schlumberger as well as the Qatar-based multi-disciplined local service company like Milaha. With over 70 years of presence in Qatar, Schlumberger supplies the petroleum industry with several key services such as seismic acquisition and processing, well testing and directional drilling, artificial lifts, well completions and groundwater extraction. Source: www.energynewsafrica.com

Nigeria: Labour Unions Suspend Planned Strike As FG Puts Electricity Tariff Hike On Hold

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have suspended their industrial action which was scheduled to commence today (Monday). This followed an agreement reached with the Federal Government at a meeting which started at 8.30pm on Sunday and ended at 2:50am this morning. After exhaustive deliberations on the issues raised by the labour unions, the meeting agreed to suspend the application of the cost-reflective electricity tariff adjustments for two weeks. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, read the five-page communique signed by the representatives of the government and labour. The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba; and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Quadri Olaleye, amongst others signed on behalf of Organised Labour while the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige; Minister of State Petroleum, Timipre Silva; Minister of State Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN); Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed; and the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and others, signed on behalf of the government. Speaking to the media, Quadri Olaleye confirmed the development, said: “We signed a document to suspend the action for two weeks for the government to implement those things that we agreed in the agreement. So, we are suspending for two weeks. “We don’t need a notice again to re-convene if there is a need to do that.” The parties agreed to set up a technical committee comprising Ministries, Departments, Agencies, NLC and TUC. It would work for a duration of two weeks effective September 28, to examine the justifications for the new policy “in view of the need for the validation of the basis for the new cost-reflective tariff as a result of the conflicting information from the fields which appeared different from the data presented to justify the new policy by NERC; metering deployment, challenges, timeline for massive rollout.”
South Africa: We’re Tackling Power Situation To Boost Economy-President Ramophosa
The members of the committee include the Minister of State Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN) as Chairman; Minister of State Power, Godwin Jedy-Agba; Chairman, National Electricity Regulatory Commission, James Momoh; Special Assistant to the President on Infrastructure, Ahmad Zakari as the Secretary. Other members are Onoho’Omhen Ebhohimhen, Joe Ajaero (NLC), Chris Okonkwo (TUC) and a representative of electricity distribution companies. The committee’s terms of reference are to examine the justification for the new policy on cost-reflective electricity tariff adjustments; to look at the different DISCOs and their different electricity tariff vis-à-vis NERC order and mandate; examine and advise government on the issues that have hindered the deployment of the 6 million meters, among others. “During the two weeks, the DISCOs shall suspend the application of the cost-reflective electricity tariff adjustments,” the communique noted. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com