African electricity shortage

All of Bissau without electricity - electricity bill was not paid 

Guinea-Bissau's capital Bissau was left without power early Tuesday morning after authorities failed to pay a $17 million bill to Turkish energy company Karpowership.  

 

Only late on Wednesday did the 400,000 residents of Bissau regain power, writes Reuters.  

 

During the outage, hospitals were forced to use emergency generators to perform emergency operations. The water supply was also cut off. 

 

- Most families stay outside until four in the morning because it is so hot inside the houses, journalist Alberto Dabo told the BBC. 

 

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Capitals blacked out by Turkish energy company  

 

The Turkish energy company Karpowership has in a short time made two African capitals without power. Most recently the capital of Guinea-Bissau, and in September Freetown in Sierra Leone. 

 

Guinea Bissau is one of the world's poorest countries and plagued by political instability since independence from Portugal in 1975. 

 

In 2018, the country's state energy company signed a five-year contract with Karpowership. Since then, the cost has almost doubled. 

 

Karpowership takes a hard look at non-payment. Last month, Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, was left without power after a $40 million bill was