Page 12 - AfrElec Week 42 2021
P. 12
AfrElec POLICY AfrElec
Zambian government to
support Zesco settlement of
$400mn debt
ZAMBIA ZAMBIA’S government plans to facilitate a difficulties. Maamba’s aim is to ensure an atmos-
debt restructuring programme that will enable phere of co-existence so as to continue offering
the national power provider Zesco to resolve its the best services to Zambians, he said.
financial obligations to Maamba Collieries Ltd. Zesco is a government-owned entity that
The country’s Energy Minister Peter Kapala generates, transmits and distributes electric-
unveiled the plan last week, saying that Zesco ity in Zambia. The government’s move is good
currently owed the coal-mining company more news for the company, which was in danger of
than $400mn. The utility has continued to accrue closure because of its rising debts to suppliers
the debt because it is currently only paying about such as Maamba and independent power pro-
40% of the amount it owes, he explained during ducers (IPPs) such as Ndola Energy and Itezhi
an address to Parliament. Maamba is looking for tezhi Power.
a guarantee that Zesco will settle the debt once Kapala recently said that Zesco’s total debts
the latter company has raised enough money, he had risen to about $3.5bn as of September 2021
added. and the debt was largely the consequence of sup-
For his part, Venkat Shankar, the CEO of the ply problems. The utility is dependent on costly
coal-mining company, has said he is pleased emergency power imports and electricity gen-
Zambia’s government is looking for a mutu- erated by IPPs, which carries a higher tariff.
ally beneficial solution to Zesco’s financial
Egypt, Greece and Cyprus sign
agreement to link power networks
EDYPT EGYPT, Greece and Cyprus have signed a tri- closer to the common goal that our three coun-
lateral agreement to link the electricity power tries aspire to, which is connecting electricity in
networks of the three Mediterranean countries the future with the rest of the European conti-
through an underwater transmission line, Egyp- nent,” El-Sisi reportedly said during the press
tian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said during conference with Cypriot President Nicos Ana-
a joint press conference after a summit gather- stasiades and Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos
ing the leaders of the three countries in Athens. Mitsotakis.
The ninth trilateral summit, focusing on energy El-Sisi also called for similar efforts to estab-
and boosting trilateral co-operation, is part of lish an offshore natural gas pipeline connecting
a co-operation mechanism launched in 2014 the Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus to the two
between the three countries. Egyptian gas liquifying plants in Damietta and
Egypt on Saturday October 16 signed an Idku in northern Egypt. The Egyptian president
accord with Cyprus to link their electricity said this would pave the way for dispatching liq-
transmission networks. Two days earlier, Egypt uefied natural gas (LNG) from Egypt to Greece
also signed with Greece an agreement on an and then to many countries in the Eastern Med-
undersea cable that will transmit power from iterranean and perhaps to the Western Balkans
North Africa to Europe. and Central European countries.
“This is an introductory step that brings us
P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 42 21•October•2021
