Power has been listed as second topmost threat to businesses in Rivers State and an expert says the end is not anywhere in sight. Instead, he has advised business to consider collocation option to share common facilities especially power supply. Chinedu Amah, CEO of Sparkonline Ltd, has urged businesses to look to off-grid sources especially solar inverters.
Amah was a speaker at the Ease of Doing Business roundtable held in Port Harcourt Monday morning on the platform of Startup Port Harcourt 2019.
Ease of Doing Business
Security is top of the list of threats to investments and businesses in Port Harcourt, according to the survey announced on Monday at the event organized by Startup Port Harcourt. Speakers said people now run home by 6pm and that shops hurry to close by 7pm.
Speaking specifically on power supply situation, Amah, a consultant on power and media expert said generating sets are now a national menace, though he said they create 2mw of alternative power to small business.
Saying Nigeria must do away with generators to save the nation from noise and air pollution, Amah said generators are ‘wahala’. He rather pointed to inverters as a saving grace. He said from research, whereas an average Nigerian family or small business spends N30,000 on fueling generators and repairs, he said N20,000 can guarantee same household an inverter.
He said the over one million homes in Port Harcourt spend so much on power without getting it in good measure. He warned against creating global warming which he said has led to strange flooding in the Niger Delta. He said; “Collocate with people who do same thing or have same need. Pull resources, share cost.”
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He talked about some investors who now buy plants and supply power to groups of businesses in form of mini off-grid systems. He said collocation is hope for energy solution. “Use cooperative approach. Reduce costs for SMEs.”
Ugly power supply prospects Amah called for conversations to start everywhere. He said: “It is amazing that Nigeria delivered its first power unit as far back as 1886, even before Britain did. Now, we are down as there was no further investment down the line.
“The national grid was designed in the 1960s to carry the power needs of that time but we are still stuck with that capacity. Nigeria has no power supply, period. There is no gas to power the thermal stations. The national grid cant even take the little produced. The poles to transmit power are too old and weak to carry power.”
It was said that at the moment, the grid holds 4000mw. Nigeria has capacity to produce 12000mw ( where 50000mw is needed) but only does 7000mw and only 4000mw can be taken. The result is that businesses are forced to run on generators. Gas from Nigeria is believed to pollute the ozone layer by 6 per cent.
Amah regretted the scenario where utility accounts are domiciled with the landlord instead of the payers, the tenants. It has ugly outcomes. Metering is said to be poor so far with only with 20 per cent covered in the PH zone by 2018. Also, energy theft is said to be too high. Bypass from prepaid meters is very high, sometimes as high as 80 per cent in a community.
There is also the problem of import duty on fully manufactured meters jumped from 10 per cent to 35. Some contributors advised business owners to avoid estimated bills and go prepaid meters and energy bulbs.
Victor Briggs, Principal Consultant, VTB Consulting, spoke on how to access funds outside the banks and harped much on cash flow, record keeping, and savings to attract angel funds. He explained the four Cs that give god credit rating and loans as cash flow, capacity, collateral, conditions of your business, and character. “Keep good records in case venture investors come knocking.”
Ibifuro Asawo: CEO of Cinfores Limited
Transacting with Government
Automation is crucial. He said the focus on the Rivers IT policy is making tax payment easy and transparent. “About five programmes will be launched soon. People will now pay online, etc. The system has been tested for one year.”
He said over 6000 organisations have registered on the Rivers automated system and that tax clearance certificates are now being processed. He said oil majors are signing on and that the Rivers App will soon allow people to interact. .
He said the state general hospital, Braithwaite Memorial Hospital (BMH) is now a teaching hospital with information management system. It has registered over 66000 on the platform. E-wallet allows would someone to access services anywhere. This would eliminate waiting queues in hospitals in the state thereby enhancing ease of doing business.
He said: “Things are done faster now. Older doctors are slow for it, but young doctors are keen. Health Ministry soon out with database of all health service providers. A patient’s record can be in the cloud. There would be one opening file for a patient.
“The new court year will be done electronically. Over 400 lawyers have registered and are training to start soon. Filing of cases will be e-filing. Affidavit processing would now be online though the law still requires face to face with the Commissioner of Oath. Survey shows people swear up to five affidavits. .
“Private schools, will be reviewed as it has been found that many schools operate without registration, The BOPP is coming online, too, to regulate contracting with the government. It’s for young people to do business. Rivers Yellow Pages coming. Enough data is coming. So, you do what you want with it.”
He talked about the sustainability clause and said the method of doing with government is changing. There would be unschooling scheme to allow people with wrong education to unlearn and relearn as is done abroad where some parents make their children to unlearn due to heavy immorality learnt at school.
He said: “Change is here. Technology is moving faster than we think. The way business is done with government is changing. Brace up.”
Christy Eze: Chartered Inst of Secretaries and Administrators Structure is important. Goal for 2019 is how to scale up. Tech is helping us do better. Your business must solve problems. The Rivers Revenue Board is doing a lot to make paying taxes easier.
Nigeria is failing in Ease of Doing Business and SMES are the hope for jobs. Some 78m SMES are in existence and they contribute up to 90 per cent of businesses in existence and about 50 per cent to GDP. But, they lack access to credit. It is important to have structured businesses as the only way to attract funding because angel investors are waiting around for credible business plans.
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Banks are averse to risks and may not fund startups and they see SMES as often badly managed, too personalized, no structure, and lacking credit information. They should look to government lending windows. CBN created a refinancing window of about N200BN.
Parting shot by an environmentalist:
Climate change is real and hot weather is coming. Tree cutting is dangerous. Plant trees around your homes. Trees create micro climate that absorbs heat, noise, fans you, gives oxygen.
Warning: Soon, flooding will drive PH out like the second coming of ‘The Flood’. There is something we can do. Let’s do it now.
Every hour in Rivers State and most other states far and near, somebody is either being kidnapped or being released from the dungeon. Many are dieing in detention. The buhues are now human farms.
The stories take different dimension every week. The latest story that touches the heart is the killing of mother and son, 54-year-old Awotongha Nelly Ala-binte who was kidnapped in Port Harcourt with her 22-year-old son, Tarilate Edwin Ala-binte. The son was to graduate as best student in Petroleum Engineering in Afe Babalola University, Ekiti, next year.
