Guinea-Bissau’s capital: Bissau, was thrust into darkness on Tuesday, October 17, after Turkish firm Karpowership cut off the power supply to the West African nation due to a lingering debt of $17 million, according to the economy minister said.
Minister Suleimane Seidi had also revealed that arrangements were being made to pay $15 million of arrears owed by Guinea-Bissau’s Electricity and Water Company and he had vowed that the issue would be resolved within 15 days.
Karpowership is one of the world’s largest operators of floating power plants and is a part of the Karadeniz Energy Group —the group that has been providing 100% of Guinea-Bissau’s electricity needs since a deal was brokered in 2019, according to its website.
According to Seidi during a press conference, Karpower had agreed to renegotiate with the government to ensure that the backlog does not become a problem.
A Karpowership spokesperson who spoke with Reuters had said: “Unfortunately, following a prolonged period of nonpayment, our floating power plant is now unable to keep operating.”
“We are presently working round the clock with officials to fix this issue, and we plan to have the generator back online as quickly as possible.”
Recall that in September, Karpowership turned off the electricity supply to Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city due to an unpaid debt of about $40 million.
