As the need for electricity grows, so does the need for effective solutions for utilities who supply electricity when it comes to billing their customers and ensuring fair, efficient and stable supply. This is where Conlog excels and where it can help companies and individuals grow.
Global management consultant McKinsey & Company detailed in its ‘Powering Africa’ report from 2015 that ‘sub-Saharan Africa is starved for electricity. The fact that sub-Saharan Africa’s residential and industrial sectors suffer electricity shortages means that countries struggle to sustain GDP growth’. But many of the globes top ten fastest growing economies are based in sub-Saharan Africa, the region has a growing middle class and a population going through changes to both the economic and political landscape and moves towards modernising its output. Of course, with this comes the growing need for power and the efficient, stable, affordable supply of electricity. This has been an issue that even South Africa, one of Africa’s most advanced economies, has failed to deal with. But even when demand has been met with supply and the system has worked in relative harmony, another challenged has surfaced – the commercial side of business; charging people for their use. One estimate, from researchandmarkets.com, suggests that a huge amounts of the valuable power generated in Africa is actually never billed.
“Prepayment metering (PPM) provides an intermediate solution to the chronic problem of energy theft in Asia, especially the Indian sub-content, sub-Saharan Africa and South America. In some African countries only 50% of electricity generated is paid for; half is not even billed to the distribution companies and another half is stolen by the consumers; PPMs are the preferred solution,” the report states.
Vahid Monadjem CEO at Nomanini reiterated the problem of payment in a column in Electric Light & Power saying: “Installing prepaid meters is a big part of the solution, and will play a huge role in protecting electricity suppliers’ revenues, enabling them to provide sustainable power for the long term. These meters are already having an impact in a number of countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia, and the potential for growth is huge. In Nigeria alone, the prepaid electricity market is worth an estimated $915 million, with 50% of the market yet to receive prepaid meters.
“While prepaid meters go halfway to solving the problem, making payment points widely available for people to purchase prepaid electricity vouchers is just as important. Unfortunately, it’s proving difficult in areas where retail is primarily informal, and where household incomes are so low that people can often only afford to purchase a couple of dollars’ worth of electricity at a time.
“Perhaps the best solution to Africa’s electricity payment challenge is to empower informal vendors such as taxi drivers, local shop owners and micro entrepreneurs to use mobile technology to buy prepaid electricity vouchers, which they can then sell for cash. This replicates the success of mobile airtime distribution and enables electricity providers to ensure that even unbanked, unconnected people in the remotest of areas can access and pay for electricity conveniently,” he explains.
So the market for PPM is big, especially in Africa, and fortunately, the continent is home to one of the world’s most well recognised companies in this space, Conlog.
Located in Durban, Conlog has, for decades, been providing holistic electricity prepayment solutions to enable utilities worldwide to effectively collect, manage and protect their revenue.
“Our offer comprises prepaid electricity meters, vending and revenue management solutions, as well as all the necessary support, consultation and training required to ensure your project is a success.
“Conlog’s pioneering spirit, coupled with an unrivalled depth of experience in prepayment which spans over 25 years, has resulted in us developing numerous world firsts and industry standards. It is this spirit and the embracing of technology that continues to drive us to provide solutions to address the challenge of service delivery,” the company states.
With customers spanning more than 30 countries on four continents, Conlog is a truly global operation. In addition, with the world’s largest installed base of over nine million STS prepaid meters and the associated vending infrastructure, more than 45 million people interact with a Conlog product each day.
Founded in 1965 as an electronics design company, Conlog has continuously provided innovative solutions to everyday challenges. In the 60s, the company focussedpredominantly on the industrial sector with monitoring devices and alarms. The 70s saw the focus expand to incorporate monitoring and control devices with a special focus on the refinery industry. With the growth of the digital age in the 80s, Conlog began diversifying into new industries such as lighting, automotive alarms and cruise controls, and, towards the end of the decade, electricity prepayment. The 90s saw Conlog excel with automotive products and prepayment solutions and quickly become the industry leader. In the 00s, after many years of diversification, the company focused its efforts of electricity prepayment solutions after being purchased by Schneider Electric in 2000. Today, Conlog has the world’s largest installed base of prepaid solutions, has been Operating in the prepayment industry for more than 20 years, has skilled people with Collective experience of over 100 years,has a footprint spanningmore than 20 countries across four continentsand is used by more than 70 utilities.
With the next development stage in the global prepayment industry coming through digital advancements and smart connectivity, making transactions faster and more secure, Conlog has had to ensure it innovates with both products and services to remain the industry leader.
Many major African cities have stated their intention to become ‘smart cities’. IBM’s Communications Manager for Emerging Markets, Jonathan Batty says that while there are still many differing definitions of a smart city, IBM says it’s “all about data: how you mine it, leverage it and ultimately use it to make better decisions about how to run your city and to provide better services to citizens.” In Kenya, Konza city is already under development; in Modderfontein, a major smart city development is being planned by the Chinese and Lagos, Accra, Abuja, Durban, Mombasa and Nairobi are already putting plans in place for smart city developments.
Conlog’s products would suit this environment perfectly, and this is where the company will look to grow in the coming years, not just in Africa but worldwide.
“Our metering product range is one of the most comprehensive in the industry. All our meters are manufactured to the highest quality standards,” the company states
Conlog has stated that it ‘can see a world where we can all achieve more while using less’ and it is this vision, along with the focus on smart, industry leading products and first-class service that will keep the business at the forefront of the prepayment industry.