Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire – As announced during the 1st Scientific Committee of the 2025-2028 mandate, Beacon Power Services (BPS) has entered into a multi-year financial sponsorship and technical partnership with the Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA) to support its Scientific Committee for the 2025–2028 mandate. BPS is Africa’s leading partner helping utilities deliver reliable electricity, digitize and modernize their operations, recover revenue, and cut losses.
APUA is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, bringing together 58 member utilities across 48 African countries, along with a global network of affiliates and partners. Since 1970, APUA has played a key role in promoting collaboration, technical development, and power-sector integration throughout Africa.
BPS will provide multi-year financial sponsorship to support the Scientific Committee’s activities throughout the 2025–2028 mandate. With the APUA, BPS will support key Scientific Committee meetings, including capacity-building workshops and digital frameworks tailored for Africa.
“Access to reliable electricity continues to be one of Africa’s most development challenges,” stated Bim Adisa, founder and CEO of BPS. “We are very happy to collaborate with APUA to support and invest in the technical expertise and digital transformation that will drive Africa’s power sector.”
“Partnering with BPS strengthens the Scientific Committee by providing valuable technical expertise and support. This will enhance our ability to deliver impactful research, facilitate capacity-building workshops, and build long-term skills across our member utilities, ensuring sustainable growth,”says Eng. Abel Didier TELLA, Director General of APUA.
Under the three-year mandate, BPS will leverage its expertise in advanced analytics and grid intelligence to help utilities improve network visibility, operational efficiency, and grid reliability, supporting APUA’s goal of promoting universal electricity access in Africa.
About Beacon Power Services
Beacon Power Services (BPS) provides data-driven, innovative solutions that help utilities improve grid performance, reduce losses, and enhance operational efficiency. By combining industry expertise with data and analytics, BPS supports utilities across Africa in improving grid reliability.
About the Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA)
The Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA), formerly known as the Union of Producers, Transporters and Distributors of Electric Power in Africa (UPDEA), was established in 1970 and is headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Today, the association has 58 active members in 48 African countries, as well as 30 affiliate, associate, and observer members globally.
Beacon Power Services conclut un partenariat technologique et stratégique avec l’Association des Sociétés d’Électricité d’Afrique (ASEA)
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire – Comme annoncé lors de la première réunion du Comité Scientifique du mandat 2025 – 2028, Beacon Power Services (BPS) devient l’un des sponsors du Comité Scientifique de l’Association des Sociétés d’Électricité d’Afrique (ASEA) pour le mandat 2025 – 2028. À travers ce partenariat stratégique, BPS réaffirme son engagement en faveur de la transformation et de la modernisation du secteur électrique africain.
L’ASEA est une organisation non gouvernementale à but non lucratif basée à Abidjan, en Côte d’Ivoire, qui regroupe 58 sociétés membres dans 48 pays africains, ainsi qu’un réseau mondial d’affiliés et de partenaires. Depuis 1970, l’ASEA joue un rôle clé dans la promotion de la collaboration, du développement technique et de l’intégration du secteur de l’électricité à travers l’Afrique.
BPS a développé des solutions numériques spécialement destinées aux Sociétés d’Électricité permettant de fournir une énergie électrique fiable, de digitaliser et moderniser leurs opérations, d’augmenter les revenus et à réduire leurs pertes sur le réseau.
En collaboration avec l’ASEA, BPS contribuera activement à des projets clés du Comité Scientifique, tels que des projets de recherche et des forums de partage de connaissance, permettant aux membres de l’ASEA de rester à la pointe des dernières innovations de digitalisation des réseaux d’électricité.
«L’accès à une électricité fiable reste l’un des plus grands défis du développement en Afrique», a déclaré Bim Adisa, fondateur et CEO de BPS. « Nous sommes très heureux de collaborer avec l’ASEA pour soutenir et investir dans l’expertise technique et la transformation digitale qui propulseront le secteur de l’énergie en Afrique. »
« Le partenariat avec BPS apporte une expertise technique et un soutien précieux au Comité Scientifique. Cela améliorera notre capacité à fournir des recherches percutantes et à développer des compétences à long terme au sein de nos sociétés membres, assurant une croissance durable », a déclaré l’Ing. Abel Didier TELLA, Directeur Général de l’ASEA.
BPS mettra son expertise en analyse de données et intelligence de réseaux au service des Sociétés d’Électricité pour améliorer la visibilité sur leurs réseaux. Ce partenariat s’inscrit ainsi dans la mission de l’ASEA de promouvoir un accès universel et stable à l’électricité en Afrique.
À propos de Beacon Power Services (BPS)
BPS fournit des solutions de gestion de données et de réseau pour le secteur de l’électricité en Afrique. Créé en 2010 sur le continent africain, nos solutions visent à accroître l’efficacité opérationnelle des sociétés d’électricité, en les aidant à réduire leurs coûts et à augmenter leurs revenus.
À propos de l’Association des Sociétés d’Electricité d’Afrique (ASEA)
L’Association des Sociétés d’Electricité d’Afrique (ASEA) anciennement dénommée Union des Producteurs, Transporteurs et Distributeurs d’Énergie Électrique en Afrique (UPDEA), a été créée en 1970 avec pour siège, Abidjan, en Côte d’Ivoire. Aujourd’hui l’association compte 58 membres actif, ainsi que 48 des membres affiliés, associés et observateurs.
Going solar in Nigeria has become an act of self-sufficiency in recent years. With the grid delivering unreliable power and rising costs resulting from the band reclassification, any business or household that could afford panels effectively unplugged, and the surplus those solar systems generated simply went to waste.
That has now changed, as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has commenced its Net Billing Regulations 2026, a framework that allows electricity consumers to generate their own renewable power and sell the surplus back to the national grid. For the first time, there is a structured legal pathway for what the regulation calls prosumers — customers who both produce and consume electricity.
Under the new rules, an eligible customer installs a solar system, uses what they need, and exports the excess to their distribution company. In return, exported electricity earns credits based on an export tariff approved by NERC, which are then set against future bills. If the value of what you export exceeds what you consume in a cycle, the remaining credit rolls forward. There’s a quieter sweetener too: prosumers keep any carbon credits their renewable projects generate.
It is not open to everyone. Systems must fall between 50 kilowatt-peak and 1.5 megawatt-peak, a benchmark high enough that this is, for now, a commercial-and-industrial story, not a rooftop-residential one. The process is deliberate: you apply to your DisCo for a technical feasibility assessment; it confirms that your installation meets standards and that the local network can absorb your exports; then you sign a Net Billing Agreement, register with NERC, and get fitted with a bidirectional meter that measures power flowing both ways.
That feasibility step matters more than it sounds. Uncontrolled injections into a low-voltage network already prone to voltage instability and asset faults are exactly the risk that has shadowed distributed generation in Nigeria for years.
Most coverage, including the framing you’ll see everywhere, calls this “net metering.” It isn’t. It’s net billing, and the difference is in how it works.
Under true net metering, your meter effectively runs backward, and every exported unit is credited at the full retail rate, a one-for-one swap where the grid acts as a free battery.
Net billing is different: you’re compensated for surplus energy at a set export rate, typically lower than the retail price you pay for grid power.
I know it sounds too technical, so let’s break it down. Think of the grid as a shop you both buy from and sell to. Under net metering, the shop swaps your unit for a unit. You hand over a kilowatt-hour at noon and take one back at night; no cash changes hands, and the price doesn’t matter. The grid is simply free storage that holds your power until you need it.
Net billing works like a real shop: you sell your surplus at the shop’s buying price and buy back at the selling price, and the buying price is always lower. A unit you export is worth less than a unit you pull back in. So you run on your own solar while the sun is up, and only sell what you genuinely can’t use.
This was a choice by NERC, not an oversight, because the 1.5 MW ceiling is modest by international standards, which observers read as NERC’s intent to stress-test the framework with a defined first cohort before widening it. Net billing is the conservative, grid-protective design suitable for a network that can’t yet afford to treat itself as infinite free storage. It nudges prosumers toward self-consumption, efficiency, and eventually storage, rather than dumping the load onto fragile infrastructure.
The scale of the shift becomes clear in one number: as recently as 2024, grid-connected solar contributed roughly 0.2% of Nigeria’s total electricity generation. The capacity exists — Nigeria posted 141% year-on-year growth in new solar installs in 2025, making it Africa’s second-largest installer after South Africa. Net billing is the policy attempt to connect that latent capacity to the wider system, turning solar owners from passive off-takers into active contributors and earners.
The economics already lean in. Commercial and industrial solar users in Nigeria are seeing 20–30% savings compared to diesel self-generation, and an export credit only improves the math. Set against power shortages that cost the economy an estimated $29 billion a year in lost output, the case for pulling private solar into the grid writes itself.
Here’s the catch: this regulation can’t solve it on its own: a prosumer model only works if both sides of the meter have total visibility.
On the utility side, a DisCo can’t credit exports it can’t measure, or absorb injections it can’t monitor in real time. On the consumer side, net billing quietly means that when export is credited below retail, the smart play is no longer “generate as much as possible” — it’s “understand your own consumption, maximize what you self-consume, and export the rest intelligently.” That requires visibility that most Nigerian energy users have never had.
This is the layer we’ve been building toward at Beacon Power Services. CAIMS maps the network into a digital twin, and ADORA runs real-time monitoring and billing on top of it, giving DisCos the operational picture that net billing depends on. And Xepp gives the consumer their half: a single app to track consumption patterns in real time, manage payments, and move on to solar with a system sized to their actual power use. Net billing makes that kind of consumption intelligence valuable in a way it simply wasn’t before.
Put plainly, the regulation creates the right to be a prosumer. The data and tools are what turn that right into a return.
The bottom line
NERC hasn’t flipped a switch that pays everyone for sunshine. It has done something more careful — built a controlled on-ramp that rewards efficiency, protects a stressed grid, and begins dismantling the one-way relationship in which power only ever flowed from the utility to you. Nigeria’s renewable market is projected to reach roughly 14 GW by 2031. Net billing is the signal that the country intends to capture that growth and share it with the people already paying to build it.
The prosumer era is here. The question now is who can actually see well enough to make it pay.
On Monday, April 13, we attended the unveiling of the MTN CHAMPS Season 4 Grand Final in Ibadan, marking the final stop of a season that began in Calabar and continued through Jos. Our Senior Manager of Marketing and Communications, Oluchi Ubazue, represented us at the press conference with government officials, sports administrators, MTN executives, and the Making of Champions team.
Our sponsorship goes beyond brand visibility. It is about creating opportunities and supporting the future of Nigerian sports. MTN CHAMPS has revealed the depth of talent across Calabar, Jos, and now Ibadan. By participating, we help build a system that enables this talent to grow and succeed.
We use the word ‘system’ intentionally. We aim to support structures that help young athletes persevere. This partnership aligns perfectly with our commitment to building effective solutions.
Our support is tangible. We have sponsored two athletes, Destiny and Rebecca, who delivered strong, consistent performances throughout the season. Their dedication shows the importance of platforms like this and the need for organizations to support emerging talent.
We appreciate Making of Champions, MTN, and the other sponsors for their ongoing commitment to youth development. We are genuinely excited about the future for these athletes.
The Grand Final will be the largest in the competition’s history, with over 3,200 athletes from 375 schools and teams competing in Ibadan at the Lekan Salami Stadium and the University of Ibadan Sports Complex. This is Ibadan’s third time hosting MTN CHAMPS and its first time hosting the Grand Final. MoC Founder and CEO Bambo Akani noted that this milestone places the city among the top three for registration numbers across all four seasons.
Akani thanked us for our role in providing athlete scholarships and acknowledged MTN’s efforts in expanding the event nationally. MTN’s Idowu Adesokan highlighted the identification of 30 athletes as early evidence that this platform could produce future Olympic champions.
Enoch Adegoke, MTN CHAMPS Ibadan Ambassador and Olympic finalist, stated that Ibadan would exceed the achievements seen in Calabar and Jos. Five-time Olympian Mary Onyali emphasized that talent alone is not sufficient; athletes also require funding, media exposure, and robust support systems to succeed.
Our journey from Calabar to Jos to Ibadan represents more than sponsorship. It shows the impact of committed partnerships in building infrastructure, whether for power or supporting young athletes as they pursue their futures.
The 20 Most Valuable Performers from the Calabar and Jos stages will now compete against the best in Ibadan. The Grand Final offers the highest stakes in the competition’s four-year history, and we will continue to support every step of the way.
Beacon Power Services has signed an agreement with Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) to improve network visibility. The project aims to enhance real-time monitoring and control across the grid, providing better insight into assets and network performance.
For utilities, network visibility is central to effective grid reliability as it supports real-time situational awareness, strengthens outage response, and improves coordination between control centres and field operations.
Previously, visibility was limited to the feeder level, but it is now being expanded to include distribution transformers (DTs) and maximum demand (MD) customers. This broader coverage will allow AEDC to improve oversight, helping identify inefficiencies and cut down on commercial losses.
By integrating Adora and the Meter Data Management System, AEDC streamlined operational data within a unified monitoring framework which has improved feeder availability, reduced outages, and enabled feeder upgrades to higher bands, increasing revenue for the utility.
In addition to visibility and monitoring, ADORA’s predictive analytics help AEDC foresee network asset problems. By early detection of risk patterns in feeders, DTs, and MD customers, AEDC can prevent faults, reduce downtime, and improve network reliability. This proactive approach increases feeder availability and leads to higher revenue from upgraded bands.
AEDC has streamlined operational meter data within a unified monitoring framework using the Meter Data Management System to detect inefficiencies, minimize losses, and enhance grid reliability .
The expanded deployment will further enable AEDC to:
Detect and resolve network issues promptly.
Track asset performance in real time.
Use operational data to reduce losses and strengthen service reliability.
Meter Data Management System within ADORA to detect inefficiencies, minimize losses, and enhance grid reliability
The next phase of deployment will begin immediately, with a structured rollout across AEDC’s operational areas. This implementation aims to deliver measurable improvements and integrate with existing network activities.
We’re pleased to announce the appointment of Ije Ikoku Okeke to the Board of Directors.
Ije brings over twenty years of experience in infrastructure investing, renewable energy, and development finance. She has led investments totaling more than $3 billion in energy and infrastructure projects across the United States, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and other emerging markets.
Currently, Ije serves as Managing Director at RMI, where she leads initiatives to expand climate and renewable energy finance in emerging markets. Her work focuses on unlocking capital and establishing partnerships to support sustainable infrastructure growth.
Earlier in her career, Ije helped start CEC Africa, an energy investment platform backed by private equity with about $1 billion in assets focused on power projects. She also held leadership roles at the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank, where she managed investments in telecom, transport, and energy in Latin America and Africa.
In addition to her executive roles, Ije has served on the boards of several infrastructure companies and on advisory boards and investment committees for private equity and venture funds. She has also advised global initiatives, including the Rockefeller Foundation and the MIT Energy Initiative, through the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty.
“We are delighted to welcome Ije to the Beacon Power Services Board,” said Bim Adisa, CEO and Founder of Beacon Power Services. “Her deep experience in energy infrastructure and sustainable investment in Africa and other emerging markets brings a valuable perspective to our Board. Ije’s history of mobilizing capital for infrastructure and energy projects worldwide will be a great asset as we continue to grow and increase our impact.”
Ije earned her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
We look forward to the expertise and perspective Ije will contribute to Beacon Power Services.
