Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s announcement that it will open up electricity generation to other players, effectively breaking Eskom’s monopoly, has been welcomed by many, especially the mining industry, a key sector in Africa’s most industrialised economy. President Cyril Ramaphosa in his annual state of the nation …
Read More »Ethiopia, Egypt delay deadline in River Nile dam row
Washington, United States | AFP | Ethiopia made progress with Egypt and Sudan in US-brokered talks in easing concerns over a hotly contested mega-dam on the Nile, with a tentative agreement to fill it only during the rainy season. The three countries had set a deadline of Wednesday to reach …
Read More »Power-starved Ethiopia rallies around Nile dam as Egypt dispute simmers
Metekel, Ethiopia | AFP | Cell phone batteries constantly dying, health centres bereft of modern equipment, a dependence on flashlights after sundown — Kafule Yigzaw experienced all these struggles and more growing up without electricity in rural Ethiopia. So five years ago, he leapt at the chance to work on a …
Read More »Power cuts return to South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s electricity utility Eskom at the weekend resumed power outages, citing a “vulnerable” generating system, just weeks after implementing the severest rationing in recent times. The debt-laden company which generates around 95 percent of the country’s electricity, on Sunday said the cuts …
Read More »Electricity generation company in record Shs24bn profit
Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) announced on Dec.17 that it had made a net profit of Shs24.7bn for the financial year 2018/19, up from a loss of Shs10.8bn a year before. Officials said the profit, the first since the company’s inception in 2001, …
Read More »Umeme secures $70m for investments in the distribution network
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s electricity distributor, Umeme Limited has secured a $70m (Ushs .258 billion) funding to support its planned investments in the electricity distribution network. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) was the lead-arranger in the syndicate including Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited, Standard Chartered Bank and the …
Read More »Scientists to harness the sun to break down plastic
Singapore, Singapore | AFP | Scientists said Wednesday they have come up with an environmentally-friendly method that uses artificial sunlight to transform plastic into power-generating chemicals, as countries worldwide battle to reduce waste. Huge quantities of plastic have piled up on land and been dumped in the sea across the …
Read More »‘Unconsumed electricity will hit Uganda’s budget hard’
MUHAKANIZI: Unconsumed electricity will hit Uganda’s budget hard; capacity to rise to 1200MW, yet Ugandans can only consume 600MW Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda must now reserve money to pay for generated but unconsumed power for the next five years, Secretary to the Treasury Keith Muhakanizi has said. …
Read More »Contentious Uganda hydro project back on the table
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Uganda will approve a feasibility study into building a hydro power station near the awe-inspiring Murchison Falls, the tourism ministry said Friday, three months after vowing to scrap the project. The about-turn has infuriated tourism operators who fear the 360-megawatt project on the Victoria …
Read More »IEA Africa energy report paints bright future
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The reports says Africa’s natural resources aren’t limited to sunshine and other energy sources. It also possesses major reserves of minerals such as cobalt and platinum that are needed in fast-growing clean energy industries. Africa is set to become increasingly influential in shaping global …
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