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F E A T U R E
Powering Up Nigeria www.new.abb.com/northern-africa
Powering Up Nigeria As the world’s largest builder of electricity grids and related equipment, ABB is among the rms leading the way following the recent liberalisation of Nigeria’s power sector.
increase industrial productivity in a sustainable way. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, the rm’s shares are traded on the stock exchanges of Zurich, Stockholm and New York. Its business is comprised of ve divisions that are in turn Formed in 1988 by the merger of two organized in relation to the long-established engineering groups, customers and industries they serve. ABB has about 145,000 employees The group is particularly proud of and operations in more thanof100 its record for innovation, which is As the world’s largest builder electricity grids and countries; Nigeria Switzerland’s inclusive andABB in is among widely recognized through countless related equipment, the firms every region of the world. Today, awards leading the way following the recent liberalisation of and scientic accolades. Nigeria’s power leader sector. in power and ABB is a global Many of the technologies we take for automation technologies and one of granted today, from ultra-efcient the world’s leading engineering high-voltage direct current power companies, helping customers to use transmission to a revolutionary electrical power effectively and to approach to ship propulsion, were 1
developed or commercialized by ABB. Today ABB is the largest supplier of industrial motors and drives, the largest provider of generators to the wind industry and the largest supplier of power grids in the world. With a 125 year heritage of technology innovation, ABB continues to shape the grid of the future.
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or Africa’s newly crowned largest economy (Nigeria assumed the title from South Africa, a nation that is well known for its own issues with electricity, late last year), it is clear that much work still needs to be done.
Opening Out Back in 2013, in a bid to breathe new life into the power sector, the Federal Government of Nigeria privatized the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), formerly known as National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA), and unbundled it 2
into 18 new generation, transmission and distribution firms. The privatization of the power sector will bring about more efficiency in the entire value chain from the generation, transmission and distribution. This will create more opportunities for OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) like ABB to support the new owners with quality equipment and renowned expertise.
Partnerships
The privatization of the power sector is already bearing fruit. ABB has signed agreements with local distributors who will stock ABB products and act as authorised distributors of ABB’s products in Nigeria.
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But technically I believe it’s in the right direction and on the right track, because when you turn distribution companies into privately owned entities, this means that they need to have a return on their investment. And having a return on their investment means that they’ll be seeking high quality products and reliable suppliers, and this gives ABB more chance and more edge over the other competitors.
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Opportunities Looking further ahead, ABB has launched its Africa 2020 program, a new strategy aimed at strengthening the company’s presence across the African continent. The kind of strategies that empower the local presence are positive for ABB because ABB is trying to, as it is said, “think globally but act locally”. ABB is currently reinforcing its local presence in Nigeria by recruiting, empowering, and training more local people. ABB is committed to meeting and following up local content laws and supporting the local market, and these kind of incentives — especially in the oil and gas sector — will foster strong local presence when partnering with indigenous organizations.
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