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On Friday, Sierra Leone's Energy Minister Kanja Sesay resigned, taking full responsibility for the power crisis.It was not immediately clear whether Sesay’s resignation was related to the payments. The same day, the government announced that it had paid some of the tens of millions of dollars it owed to energy providers, including Turkey's Karpowership, which supplies electricity to Freetown.After two months of outages, power was restored in Freetown after the payments were announced.
Most electricity supplies to the capital, Freetown, come from a Turkish ship anchored off the country’s coast.Last week, Karpowership said it had severely cut supplies to the city - from 60 megawatts to 6 megawatts - because of the unpaid bills, but the disruption has been going on for far longer.
According to reports, the government paid $17 million of the $48 million owed to Karpowership, which helped restore full electricity supply to Freetown. The company confirmed the payment and expressed its satisfaction with the full restoration of power in the capital. However, it had previously scaled down power supply to six megawatts from 60 megawatts due to non-payment of bills by the government.
The government's announcement also stated that it had paid $1.5 million to TRANSCO-CLSG, another electricity provider supplying the south and east of the country. However, the total sum owed to the provider was not confirmed.
The electricity crisis has affected various sectors, including healthcare. Hospitals have been struggling to cope with the blackouts, and at least one infant at the main children's hospital has reportedly died due to the power outage. Dr. Jeredine George, a physician, stated that medics had to use mobile phone torches to carry out procedures. Many people have expressed their frustration on social media due to the situation.Businesses such as barbershops, hotels, and restaurants are relying on generators, which heavily impacts their operating costs.
In response to the crisis, President Julius Maada Bio's office has taken direct supervision of the energy ministry after Sesay's resignation. The government's payment of some of the outstanding bills to energy providers is expected to bring relief to the citizens, who have been suffering from the electricity crisis for several weeks.
Although access to electricity has increased in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, it still remains low, with more than 50% of the region's population having no grid connection, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).
