Deputy Minister endorses locally manufactured meters

The Deputy Minister for Energy and Petroleum in charge of Power, John Abdulai Jinapor, says locally-manufactured electric meters are proving to be of higher quality and standard than many imported ones.

In a meeting with officials from Ghana Electrometer (GEM), a Ghanaian manufacturer of credit and prepaid electric meters, the Deputy Minister said government is taking seriously its local content policies in the energy sector and ‘will support Ghanaians to venture into areas hitherto dominated by foreign companies’.

He commended GEM for contributing to the country’s revenue collection in the power sector since its establishment in 2004, attributing success of the company to the quality and high standard electric meters they have been producing in the sub-region.

Mr. Jinapor’s interaction with officials of GEM was focused on ways of engaging the company more in the government’s quest to make electricity accessible to every Ghanaian.

He urged other local manufacturers to produce both locally- and internationally-certified products to boost Ghanaians’ confidence in them, stating: “Ghana-made electric meters have proven to be of higher standard and quality than many imported ones”.

Ghana Electrometer Limited (GEM) is currently the only local electric meter assembly plant in Ghana and one of only two in the West African sub-region; it is producing ISO/IEC-certified credit and pre-paid meters to some governments and electricity companies in the West African sub-region.

The representatives of GEM, during their interaction with the Deputy Minister, also revealed their partnership with Elsewedy Electrometer Egypt S.A.E. -- adding that it has helped build skills and capacities of their engineers to offer the Ghanaian and West African Markets electronic meters with modern technologies.