VenturesNow

Nigeria cuts off power supply to Niger as pressure mounts on junta

Published

10 months ago

August 3, 2023

As part of measures to pressure the military leadership in Niger Republic to back down and return power to a civilian government after a coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum last week, regional giant, Nigeria has cut off power supply to Niger.

The regional bloc, the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), after an extraordinary meeting on Sunday, issued a one-week ultimatum to Niger to restore constitutional order or risk suspension of financial transactions and possible military intervention. ECOWAS has now decreed the freezing of “all service transactions, including energy transactions.”

Reliable sources in the Nigerian power industry corroborated the news that the nation had stopped supplying electricity to Niger. Another source close to the administration of the Nigerien Electricity Company, NIGELEC, quoted in the media, said that the action was in line with the sanctions established by ECOWAS.

A NIGELEC agent indicated that the capital, Niamey, was “supplied, thanks to local production.” However, industry experts called for caution and advised that the Nigerian government should be diplomatic in handling the matter as NIGELEC was under contract with a power firm in Nigeria, Mainstream Energy, for the supply of electricity.

NIGELEC, Niger’s sole supplier, had said in a report that in 2022, 70% of its share of electricity would come from purchases made by the Nigerian firm.

“Nigeria disconnected since yesterday (Tuesday) the high voltage line that carries electricity to Niger”, the source said.

The most recent coup, which added the Niger Republic to the list of junta-ruled states in the West African subregion, was headed by General Abdourahmane Tiani, the former commander of Bazoum’s presidential guard, who had locked Bazoum in his palace and declared himself the nation’s leader last week.

Nigeria is a major powerhouse in ECOWAS and its president, Bola Tinubu is the current Chairman of the regional bloc and is taking a lead role in reinforcing the return to democratic rule in the country. But experts have called for caution in the country’s handling of the Niger crisis given, among other things, the peculiarity of its shared border with Niger and Nigeria’s internal troubles with jihadist terrorists for which it relies on Niger for military cooperation.

Related Topics:#niger Featured Niger coup Nigeria

Click to comment

VenturesNow

Nigeria’s inflation hits 28-year high of 33.69% in April

Published

6 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s consumer inflation reached a 28-year high of 33.69% in April, up from 33.20% in March, according to statistics agency figures released on Wednesday.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has slashed petrol and energy subsidies and devalued the local naira currency twice.

To manage pricing pressures, the central bank has hiked interest rates twice this year, including the highest hike in almost 17 years. The central bank governor has stated that rates will remain high for as long as necessary to reduce inflation. The bank will host another rate-setting meeting next week.

When compared to the previous year, the inflation rate in April 2024 was 11.47 percentage points more than in April 2023, when it stood at 22.22 percent. This implies that the headline inflation rate has increased dramatically during the last year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, food and nonalcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to inflation in April. Food inflation, which accounts for most of the inflation basket, rose to 40.53% yearly from 40.01% in March.

Price pressures have left millions of Nigerians facing the biggest cost-of-living crisis in decades, as they fight to satisfy their most basic necessities.

Tinubu has offered a 35% salary increase for state personnel to alleviate pressure on government workers. To assist disadvantaged households, his government has resumed a direct cash transfer program and provided at least 42,000 tons of grains such as corn and millet.

VenturesNow

Uganda discusses power line to South Sudan with China’s Sinohydro

Published

1 day ago

May 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the president’s office, Uganda is in negotiations with Sinohydro Corporation Limited of China to build a $180 million power transmission line that would enable Uganda to export electricity to South Sudan, which is severely short on energy.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni received a group led by Vice President of Sinohydro Corporation Yang Yi Xin on Monday as part of the negotiations, according to a late-morning statement from Museveni’s office.

The project, according to the statement, will entail building a new substation and expanding two existing ones in addition to building a 138-kilometre high-voltage transmission line to provide power to South Sudan.

“We are very much willing to help develop this project with the required finance if needed,” Xin was quoted as telling the president.

The statement stated that Museveni endorsed Sinohydro’s proposal to carry out the project. Uganda and South Sudan inked a power sales deal in June of last year, enabling Uganda to sell electricity to South Sudan.

To enable Uganda to export electricity to South Sudan, the two nations inked a power sales deal in June of last year. The Chinese firm is completing a $1.5 billion, 600-megawatt hydropower project on the River Nile in Northern Uganda that is meant to be the source for electricity exports to South Sudan.