Nored bleeds millions in cable theft

Northern Regional Electricity Distributor (Nored) is bleeding millions of dollars annually due to a relentless wave of infrastructure vandalism, copper cable theft and illegal connections.

Nored CEO Sylvester Wayiti sounded the alarm over the escalating crisis, revealing that the distributor incurs a staggering N$4.5 million every year solely to repair sabotaged networks and replace stolen copper cables.

Wayiti, in an exclusive interview with New Era, stressed that this multi-million-dollar figure only scratches the surface of the true economic damage. “These costs exclude the revenue losses resulting from prolonged power outages, as well as the indirect costs associated with service interruptions,” he said.

He noted that the broader fallout includes rampant customer dissatisfaction, severe reputational damage, costly customer compensation claims and crippling financial losses experienced by local businesses and communities.Nored’s operational data shows the distributor is under sustained attack by copper theft syndicates.