Ghanaian firm providing credit, pre-paid meters eyes West African market

The Ghana Electrometer (GEM), a local Ghanaian Company that provides credit and pre-paid meters says it is embarking on an expansion drive to provide prepaid metering solutions to other West African countries.

Mr Obed B. Solomon, Director of Operations and External Relations at GEM made this known when officials of the company paid a working visit to Ghana News Agency in Accra.

Mr Solomon said that the company had put up an ultra-modern metering facility that would enable it double its current production capacity of 250,000 meters per year to 500,000.

This would enable GEM to meet the country’s metering demand as well as that of neighbouring West African countries.

The new facility would be launched in the second quarter of the year.

“This new state-of-the-art facility, will not only allow the company to deliver on its mandate but also improve upon its human resource base by creating a lot of job opportunities for the unemployed in the country,”  Mr Solomon said.

He said GEM operates in Ghana with the support of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ministry of Energy as its major partners.

Mr Solomon called for the support of stakeholders including the media to enable it meet the need of the Government’s National Pre-paid Metering Policy.

He said as a government policy, GEM with the support of the ECG, had improved its production levels and had enough pre-paid meters to meet the needs of Ghanaians for both households and institutions.

“This is to facilitate the country’s revenue generation, collection and protection efforts,” he said.

Mr Solomon said since the service has a huge social significance, a lot of support would be required from the public especially from the media to meet the mandate.

Mr Duke Nelson, Deputy Technical Director in charge of IT and Projects at GEM said the company has very good working relations with ECG and other government institutions within the energy sector.

The company, he said was collaborating with the ECG to enhance customer education to increase their understanding of pre-paid metering in general.

Mr Issahag Mohammed, Acting Supervising Chief Editor of the GNA said since the Agency has a nationwide coverage and would gladly support GEM by providing it the necessary support on its activities in terms of coverage.

GEM has been operating in the country since 2004. As a fully integrated metering solutions provider, the company supports ECG and the Ministry of Energy with locally and internationally-certified electricity meters.

As a company with a vision to become the leader in metering solutions in West Africa, GEM encourages other West African countries to consider the rich benefits Ghana is reaping from the metering services and tap into its valuable resource.

GEM deals in wide range of electricity meters, including electromechanical and electronic (post and pre-paid) meters, as well as pre-payment metering solutions.

The service portfolio ranges from pre-meter installation surveys, to installation and after-sale services.

Source: GNA