Minsait collaborates with EKEDC from Nigeria to improve its electricity service provision
Minsait is collaborating with EKEDC, Nigeria's second largest electricity distributor, to improve its service provision through digitalisation.
The Indra technology company's commercial management system, Onesait Customers, improves the quality and processing of the huge amount of data that utilities have to handle throughout the entire commercial cycle. Thanks to this, EKEDC will be able to automate everything from contracting to billing and collection, including the installation of meters, reading consumption and dealing with incidents or complaints.
The digitalisation of the electricity service provides greater transparency and, therefore, optimises consumption and the companies' business, with the consequent positive impact on the distribution of a good of public interest. Previous projects to implement the Minsait solution have led to a 15% reduction in complaints, a reduction of between one and three days in the commercial cycle and savings of 20% in operating costs. They have also enabled complete control of the life cycle of meters, increased user satisfaction and improved decision making at management level.
EKEDC's Chief Information Officer, JP Attueyi, said: "The project is an important milestone in the company's transformation to a more efficient, effective and sustainable service delivery model with a state-of-the-art, industry best practice solution. It will make it easier for our customers to make transactions or resolve their queries at any time of the day and every day of the year via mobile apps and the web, as well as increasing collection efficiency thanks to the prepaid option included in the solution."
Growth potential
Nigeria's second largest distributor, EKEDC (Eko Electricity Distribution Company) supplies electricity to the south-east of Lagos State and the Abgara community in Ogun State, serving a territory of 1,200 square metres with about half a million customers.
Its growth potential and that of the rest of the Nigerian electricity distribution companies is backed by the country's boost to the sector, which has received aid from the World Bank to reverse the deficit in access to electricity among its population - close to 50% - with consequences also for companies, whose technical and commercial losses reached an average of 47% in 2021, according to data reported monthly by Nigerian distributors (excluding YEDC) to NERC (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission).
The development of these companies requires a modernisation process that responds to business needs and demand. More than 20 million customers in Africa are managed with Minsait's energy business solutions. In 1996, the technology company undertook its first transformation project in the energy sector in Africa at KPLC (Kenya Power and Lighting Company), Kenya's public electricity utility. It has already implemented its commercial system at AEDC (Abuja Electricity Distribution Company), Nigeria's largest utility with 1.2 million customers.
Today, after participating in some of the most important transformation processes undertaken by African energy companies over the last 20 years, Minsait has some fifteen references, has offices in several countries on the continent and has a centre of excellence in Nairobi, from where it develops and maintains technological solutions designed to meet the challenges and opportunities of companies in the sector in the region.