Page 11 - AfrElec Week 11

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) approved the sweetheart tariff deal for big factories that will set up base in the special zone.
COVID-19
KenGen assures Kenyans
of uninterrupted electricity
generation amid Covid-19
KenGen has assured Kenyans that it has deployed mechanisms to ensure electricity generation continues uninterrupted.
The company on Thursday said it has embarked on a shift system to ensure there are staff in all installations across the country at any given time.
KenGen has also decongested its offices by allowing some of its employees to work from home as a way of minimising contact.
All the company’s operations will be running smoothly even as the country continues to handle the coronavirus pandemic.
Also, the company said it has doubled efforts in hygiene to provide hand-washing and sanitisation facilities.
It has also introduced regular disinfection of facilities and rolled out a sensitisation campaign across the company.
KenGen has expressed its optimism that the country will overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
Egypt cuts power prices
Egypt is reducing energy prices for industrial users and cutting the tax on company dividends, it said on Tuesday, as part of measures to soften the economic impact of the coronavirus, Reuters reported.
The coronavirus outbreak threatens to devastate the country’s $12.5bn per -year tourism industry and could put pressure on revenue from trade, natural gas exports and worker remittances from abroad.
The country, which has registered 196 cases of coronavirus so far, will ban most international airline travel for two weeks, starting on Thursday.
Egypt’s main share index, the EGX30, has lost nearly a third of its value over the past four weeks on concern over the threat to the economy.
“The package of decisions taken by the government reflects its determination to quickly support the industrial sector and confront current repercussions,” a cabinet statement quoted Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly as saying.
Egypt will lower the price of natural gas for industrial use to $4.50 per mmbtu, the statement said. It had previously been charging $5.50, according to economists.
The government will also reduce the price of electricity to heavy industry to EGP0.10 ($0.0064) per kWh , down from EGP1.10, and leave electricity prices for other industries stable for three to five years.
Egypt had been raising electricity prices annually over the past few years, with the ultimate goal of removing all subsidies.
African Development Bank
announces bold measures
to curb coronavirus
The African Development Bank on Wednesday announced health and safety measures to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus in countries where it has a presence, including its headquarters
in Abidjan. The measures include telecommuting, video conferencing in lieu of physical meetings, the suspension of visits to Bank buildings, and the cancelation of
all travel, meetings, and conferences, until further notice.
Bank President Akinwumi Adesina made the announcements at a Bank-wide virtual Town Hall meeting from the institution’s headquarters in Abidjan. He stated that the measures were being taken in the best interest of public health and safety.
“My primary responsibility is to you,
to make sure you are safe, to make sure
your families are safe, to make sure you
can function where you are under the best possible conditions health and security wise,” Adesina said.
Adesina said all efforts are being made to ensure continuity of the Bank’s operations including electronic documentation and approvals.
All Bank staff worked from home on Wednesday to test-run IT systems
The Bank has already taken several
other steps to counter an escalation of the virus, including a 14-day self-quarantine for employees returning from high-risk countries.
Other multilateral institutions in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. have taken similar
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