Turkish company Karpowership has restored power to Guinea-Bissau’s capital nearly two days after cutting off supplies in the state over unsettled bills.
The company had cut off power to Bissau in the early hours of Tuesday over an unpaid bill of at least $15m (£12m), plunging the city into darkness.
A Karpowership spokesperson told the BBC that the company was able to resume operations after receiving a payment from the government.
‘We are grateful for the government’s efforts to resolve the fuel payments which have allowed for us to restart operations swiftly and continue to provide the people of Guinea-Bissau with electricity,’ the spokesperson said.
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Energy Minister Isuf Baldé said $6m of the $15m bill had been paid.
The spokesperson of Karpowership, which has been supplying power to Guinea-Bissau since 2019, said that “the decision to temporarily suspend operations was not made easily”.
‘However, following a protracted period of non-payment, our fuel suppliers were no longer able to withstand the delay and had no option but to pause work,’ he added.
In another report, the national carrier of Uganda which is known as Uganda Airlines today commenced direct flight services from its base at the Entebbe International Airport to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos from today.
Travellers will be able to fly nonstop between Nigeria and Uganda for the first time whenever direct operations between the two nations begin.
Also, the direct flight would eliminate connecting flights and man-hour loss occasioned due to the long flying hours.
Africa Today News, New York understands that it takes between nine to 12 hours to connect Entebbe from Nigeria, but with the commencement of the non-stop flight, such would be reduced to just four hours.
Speaking with Daily Independent yesterday, Mr. Adedayo Olawuyi, Chief Commercial Officer (COO), Uganda Airlines, said that the rebranded airline chose Nigeria in a bid to further connect travellers from the country to other destinations around the world, especially to its other 12 destinations.