By Austine Luseni, Communications Specialist
Ministry of Energy
Nigeria,Friday July 18,2025—— Deputy Minister of Energy l,Ing. Edmond Nonie,has led a high-powered delegation of administrative and technical experts from the Ministry of Energy and the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority,EDSA,on a visit to the Federal Republic of Nigeria with the objective of strengthening collaboration and cooperation and forging strategic partnerships between the energy sectors in the two sister countries.
The week-long strategic visit enabled the Deputy Minister and his team to visit important electricity facilities or installations,hold mutually beneficial discussions with 4Power Consortium, exchange critical technical knowlege,and profitably learn and gain experience from the Nigerian energy sector.
In a meeting with the Honourable Minister of Power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,Chief Adebayo Adelabu, Ing. Nonie said he and his team were happy to be in Nigeria and were optimistic that their visit will help enhance technical collaborations between the two ministries and utilities in the two countries.
After discussions on a wide range of issues,the two ministers agreed to deepen knowledge exchange programs between Nigeria and Sierra Leone,strengthen the government to government bilateral agreement to enable the Bank of Industry of Nigeria,Nigeria Stock Exchange,and Nigeria Exlm Bank support energy investments in Sierra Leone,and enhance capacity building partnership between the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission.
The Deputy Minister and his team had a fruitful engagement with officials at the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company. PHED is a power distribution company that serves four states in Nigeria,and the company was in Sierra Leone some three weeks ago to study the operations of EDSA.
At the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company,Ing. Nonie was briefed on technical and commercial reforms at the utility,including the digital transformations,the full AMI metering of the entire grid,the installation of smart meters for all customers,the effective operation of the customer care centre,and the effective monitoring and tracking of performances across the board.
During the discussion,it was agreed that these stellar reform endeavours will be replicated at EDSA within 2-3 weeks,with support from the PHED.
Speaking on the significance of the visit,Ing. Nonie said, “This strategic visit has laid a solid foundation for a long-term partnership aimed at transforming EDSA into a financially sustainable,technically sound,and customer-oriented utility.”
With the energy sector and the Feed Salone agenda being inextricably linked,reforms continue in the sector.
