Guinea-Bissau’s capital city, Bissau, has regained electricity after nearly two days of blackout caused by a dispute between the government and a Turkish power company.
Karpowership, which operates floating power plants across Africa, cut off the supply on Tuesday over an unpaid bill of $15m (£11m). The company said it had not received any payment since January and could no longer afford fuel.
The government managed to pay $6m on Wednesday and promised to settle the rest soon. Karpowership then resumed its operations and restored power to the city of more than 400,000 people.
The power outage affected hospitals, radio stations, and water supplies in Bissau, where temperatures can reach 40C. Some public hospitals had to use generators to perform surgeries, but they lacked running water and food for their patients. Media outlets also went off-air, leaving people in the dark about the situation.
Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world. It has struggled with political turmoil and corruption since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974. It ranks 178th out of 189 countries on the UN Human Development Index.
The country has relied on Karpowership for all its electricity needs since 2019 when it signed a deal with the Turkish company to provide power for five years. The deal solved the chronic power shortages that have plagued the country for decades.
However, the contract has become unaffordable for the government as the costs have almost doubled due to currency fluctuations and inflation. The energy minister, Isuf Baldé, said the deal needed to be renegotiated to make it more sustainable.
Karpowership is one of the world’s largest providers of floating power plants. It operates in six other African countries – Ghana, The Gambia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Senegal and Sierra Leone. It has also signed a deal with South Africa to cover more than 5% of its electricity needs.
However, the company has taken a tough stance over non-payment. Last month, it cut off power to Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, over an unpaid bill of $40m.
Access to electricity remains low in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than half of the population having no grid connection, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). The lack of reliable and affordable power hampers the region’s economic development and social welfare.
The World Bank has supported Guinea-Bissau’s efforts to improve its electricity sector through reforms and investments. It said the country had made some progress in increasing access and reducing losses, but more was needed to ensure sustainability and affordability.
The people of Guinea-Bissau hope that the power crisis will be resolved soon and that they will enjoy uninterrupted electricity in their homes and businesses.
Source: BBC
