SMEs need alternative energy to boost employment

Small and Medium Enterprises need alternative power supply to boost employment and economic growth as Nigeria moves towards addressing its power deficit, the Chief Executive Officer of London-based Contec Power Systems Limited, Mr. Srinivas Ppilla, has said.While emphasising the importance of power supply,

the expert said renewable energy was critical to economic resuscitation and business survival especially of SMEs, corporate organisations and individuals.

He spoke at a news conference in Lagos on Friday.

The CEO of Contec, a subsidiary of Contec Global, said the company which has been in existence since 1984 recently diversified to form part of the solution to the energy crisis in Africa and particularly Nigeria.

Ppilla said, “The group diversified to solve energy crisis in Nigeria, a major challenge to businesses and individuals. So, we thought of venturing into power sector, not in terms of generating power but how to make businesses grow and people live comfortably at an affordable level.”

The Contec boss, who said Nigeria could not afford to lag behind in the global paradigm shift to consumption of clean energy with little or no environmental consequence, said clean energy would help to reduce government expenditure on health-related diseases.

Ppilla said, “People in Nigeria are going through a challenging situation in terms of power crisis, the difficulty in managing their power supply and energy needs for residence and corporate requirements is affecting businesses and individuals. The costs associated with buying diesels or petroleum are increasing day by day and are impacting on the economy.

“The constant use of diesel generators has affected the environment, increasing health-related problems due to pollution.

He added, “It is time to change to a highly reliable source and reduce recurring expenses. The solution today is to reduce dependency on generators by adapting to solar power and inverter. Even the air we breathe will be less polluted. Contec aims to provide cost-effective power back ups and renewable energy solutions to Nigerians.”

source: www.today.ng/news/