Bissau - Guinea Bissau — ECOWAS and the West African economic and monetary union (UEMOA) commissions have signed an agreement with the government of Guinea Bissau for a $10 million dollar facility for the development of that country's energy sector. The one year financing arrangement would be utilised for the procurement of transformers and maintenance spares as well as fuel, lubricants and payment for the services of a technical assistant.
The agreement was signed in Bissau on 11th August 2010 by the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, the Commissioner in charge of enterprise development, telecommunication and energy at the UEMOA Commission, Mr. Guy Amedee Adjanonhoun, the Secretary- General of the West African Power Pool [WAPP], Mr. Amadou Diallo and Guinea Bissau's Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Higino Cordoso. Ambassador Gbeho said the two Commissions have been working on the financing project for a number of years in order to improve the poor electricity supply situation in the country and expressed the hope that the agreement will serve as a catalyst for attracting more foreign direct investment necessary and kick start its economic recovery.
The president noted that West Africa as a whole is suffering from grossly inadequate power supply which has been hindering its socio-economic development, a situation that necessitated the creation of the West African Power Pool [WAPP] to facilitate the integration of national power systems into a unified electricity market. He commended Mr Diallo for his doggedness which contributed to the realisation of the agreement and appealed to the electricity agency of Guinea Bissau [EAGB] to ensure that electricity bills are promptly recovered so that the funds can serve as a revolving facility to sustain its operations. Guinea Bissau's minister for economic planning and regional integration, Helena Embalo said they were deeply appreciative of the gesture by both commissions which would have a profound effect on the socio-economic life of the country.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of infrastructure, Celestin Talaki, members of the diplomatic corps, development partners and members of the civil society. The ECOWAS and UEMOA delegations, led by the ECOWAS Commission's President later called on President Bacai Sagna who used the opportunity to reiterate the country's gratitude for the gesture which would contribute significantly to the realisation of the country's plans for infrastructural and economic recovery. The delegation also visited the power plant currently serving the country where it met with its officials to discuss the emergency supply of fuel to run the generators as well as the mechanism for the operation of the financing arrangement. Guinea Bissau with a population of 1.5 million people currently has installed power generation capacity of only 3.5 megawatts which is not often fully available because of inadequate fuel supply. The $10 million dollar energy financing facility is part of the comprehensive ECOWAS energy plan of to develop the region's energy market using the instrumentality of the Cotonou-based WAPP.
