Schneider Electric Enters Nigeria Market with N2 Billion
 27th NOV 2006

•Signs N500 Million Pact with JMG

Schneider Electric, one of the leaders in electrical distribution, power and control with market presence in over 130 countries and turnover in excess of $15 billion, has planned to invest about N2 billion in Nigeria.
 This revelation emerged as the company signed a N500 million partnership agreement with JMG Limited for medium voltage and low voltage electrical distribution products, equipments and telemecanique for industrial automation products.

The Managing Director of Schneider Electric Nigeria Limited, Mr. Marcel Hochet, who disclosed that his company started operations in Nigeria in early 2005 with the setup focus to service the customers of the industrial, building, oil and gas, energy and infrastructure market sectors, stated that Schneider’s agreement with JMG would enable JMG to design and assemble of medium voltage and low voltage electrical switch board panels for the Nigerian customers.

Schneider Electric would invest N300 million on the project, while JMG would contribute about N200 million for the first year of the designing and assembling of medium voltage and low voltage electrical switch board panels, which would of international standard specification. 

With experienced expatriates and well trained Nigerian engineers, Hochet pointed out that Schneider would provide customers with state of the art products and services at optimised cost, stressing that the company would carry “significant stocks in Lagos for most of the standard products and equipments required by its customers thus shortening the delivery times.”

Schneider’s partnership with JMG, according to him, was to build a dedicated panel builder network, which would bring to Nigeria type tested low voltage switch boards manufactured in the country according to international standards, transfer of technology and development of local content in line with Federal government requirement.

Hochet said: “We have an agreement with JMG to manufacture this product. We are to train their staff for them to be able to do the design and the assembly according to specification. The overall aim is to bring the local content to the country by doing the panel locally and exposing the people to international standard.

“We want to provide the state-of-the-earth low voltage switch board. Today, we are the only manufacturer, doing this in Nigeria. Our aim is to have a network that will cover the country and being able to offer the product to our customers.
“The panel will be of international standard so that the Nigerian customers do not have any need to look for the product else where. The product is type tested switch board, which is of international specification,” he added.

The managing Director of JMG Limited, Mr. Adib Rahounji, while commenting on this development, equally noted that the partnership would boost local content, as majority of the engineers would be Nigerians, who would be trained by Schneider Electric.

Rahounji said: “We have a budget of N144 million. But that is just for the first year. As we move go, it will be more than that. We are very much positive about this agreement.
It will stimulate local content because the project will develop transfer of technology. We will have expatriate, but majority of the engineers are going to be Nigerians.”

The Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of France in Nigeria, Alain Frossard, who witnessed the signing of the agreement, stated that the French authorities were “happy that one of the important industrial growth is coming to Nigeria to participate not only to the development of the country, but also to enhance the upgrading of the capability of the Nigerian industries.”

Frossard added: “The country will take advantage of this transfer technology and the new skill that will be given to the JMG staff, which will help to push forward the capability of the Nigerian economy. We hope that the Nigerian industries will take advantage of this because we will be able to solve desirable condition for the companies.”

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