Why Uganda needs to attract new investors to consume excess electricity Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | On Nov. 16, power distributor, Umeme Limited held a media dialogue in Kampala where top managers – Selestino Babungi (managing director) and Sam Zimbe (deputy MD) answered questions about their work since 2005. The …
Read More »Burkina Faso launches Sahel region’s largest solar power plant
Zagtouli, Burkina Faso | AFP | West Africa’s biggest solar power plant goes onstream on Wednesday as Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries, inaugurates a novel scheme to boost renewables and cut energy dependence on its neighbours. The 55-hectare (135-acre) plant at Zagtouli on the outskirts of the …
Read More »Umeme investment in power distribution infrastructure paying off
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Umeme Limited Nov.16 held a media dialogue to highlight the utility’s investments in the power distribution infrastructure. Speaking at the event, Managing Director Selectino Babungi said Umeme had cumulatively invested over $500m in the distribution network. He revealed that the investments have led to the doubling …
Read More »Inside Umeme’s Shs47.5bn loss
UMEME: Company fails to win court case against ERA, writes off Shs115.3bn from its balance sheet Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Electricity distributor, Umeme Limited, recorded a first ever loss since it listed its shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange and the Nairobi Secures Exchange five years ago. …
Read More »China merges energy giants into global leader
Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese authorities have approved a mega-merger between the country’s largest coal producer and a top electricity firm, the government said Monday, reportedly creating the world’s biggest power company in terms of capacity. The tie-up between the two state-owned companies — coal producer Shenhua Group Corp. and …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Downstream costs of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
Pretoria, South Africa | Zachary Donnenfeld | ISS TODAY | The government of Ethiopia is currently constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Once complete, the GERD will be the largest hydropower facility in Africa (about 6 000 MW) – nearly triple the country’s current electricity generation capacity – and represent a potential …
Read More »Egypt delivers fuel to ease Gaza electricity crisis
Rafah, Palestinian Territories | AFP | Egypt began on Wednesday to deliver a million litres of fuel to Gaza, a Palestinian official said, in an attempt to ease the Palestinian enclave’s desperate electricity crisis. The fuel, trucked in through the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza, will be routed to …
Read More »DRCongo seeks joint Chinese-Spanish offer to build mega Inga 3 dam
The Inga 3 dam is expected to generate 4,800 megawatts of power, equivalent to the output of three third-generation nuclear reactors. Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo said Tuesday it has asked Chinese and Spanish bidders of a colossal dam project to join forces and …
Read More »ECONOMY: Museveni optimistic Kasaija’s budget will deliver
President Yoweri Museveni has reassured the country that recent investments in infrastructure across the country is the right foundation needed for the country’s economy to boom again. “I am very optimistic because for the first time we have got a base which we have not had before,” Museveni said in his remarks …
Read More »UMEME blames power outages on climate change at AGM
Uganda power distributor Umeme Limited has attributed the constant power outages that leave hundreds of Ugandans in the dark to global warming. During a stakeholders’ Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Sheraton Hotel on Thursday, Chairman Board of Directors Patrick Bitature said the national electricity grid could not handle increasingly stronger …
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