Hon. Nani Juwara, The Minister Of Petroleum and Energy
By Ramatoulie Jawo
The Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Hon. Nani Juwara, on Wednesday, informed the National Assembly that the Gambian government has an outstanding debt of over 10 billion CFA to SENELEC, Senegal’s electricity provider, covering unpaid invoices for three months.
This disclosure came during a session at the National Assembly when Hon. Omar Jammeh, representative for the Janjanbureh constituency, questioned the Minister regarding the specifics of the energy agreement between NAWEC and SENELEC. Hon. Jammeh sought details on the terms of the contract, the total amount involved, payments made, and any outstanding balances.
In response, the Minister explained that the contract between NAWEC and SENELEC is structured as a “take and pay” agreement, meaning payment is only required for energy consumed, with a 30-day credit period.
“The bulk of the monthly purchase is the 50MW facility at high voltage the amount paid, and outstanding balance depends on the energy receive however, as we speak we owe three months invoices; May, June, and July 2024 amounting to over 10 billion CFA due to NAWEC’s current cash flow situation,” he revealed.
Hon. Jammeh, in a follow-up question, expressed concern about the sustainability of the “take and pay” approach and urged support for NAWEC to ensure its long-term viability.
In his response, Minister Juwara highlighted the Gambia’s participation in the OMVG (Organization for the Development of the Gambia River) and the goal of regional cooperation in energy infrastructure. He also noted that the Gambia could potentially export energy to neighbouring countries in the future.
To support this vision, he mentioned the ongoing plans for a 150MW solar project in the Gambia to meet local energy demands and potentially supply excess energy to neighbouring countries.
“We are part of a regional body and if you look at our members in the OMVG, the objective is to put up infrastructures that countries can share and this is part of the agreement that we are also making with Senelec, and the rest of the West African countries,
“But the truth is we want to avoid our dependence on fossil fuels that are not cheap. And we will also continue to pursue our regional engagements to make sure we get less cost for our people. To make it sustainable we must have sustainability energy projects in the country, our dependence on fossil fuels will not take us anyway and that is the reality,” he said.
Hon. Sheriff Sarr, representative for Jeshwang constituency, asked if the government had contingency plans in case Senegal halted electricity supply due to the unpaid debt.
In response, Minister Juwara acknowledged the current lack of local capacity to meet national energy demands. He emphasized that this is why the Gambia relies on SENELEC and that ongoing projects aim to address the country’s energy needs in the future.
“So in terms of having immediate as I said earlier there is no quick fix at the moment, but we are working on projects that are going to help us to be able to address our energy needs for the future,”he told the members.