Nigeria Gas, and its Contractual Obligations

Nigeria Gas, and its Contractual Obligations

In my last blog, I stated that Ghana is going through its famous rotating blackout “Dumsor”, and the cause is attributed to labor unrest in Nigeria, which has resulted in the stoppage of gas to a gas-fired power plant in Ghana at Asogli (Tema).

Well, the Energy Minister from Ghana (Hon. Mr. Buah) stated on Ghana TV that he had gone to Nigeria last week to ascertain the facts about the stoppage.

I guess the Nigerians are NOT that good about hiding things and facts, because Mr. Buah caught the Nigerian Authorities at their own game, to the fact that even with the so-called labor unrest, some gas was flowing, but the Nigerians had decided to keep whatever gas was flowing to themselves (charity begins at home) regardless of any contractual obligations.  They have decided to play dumb or shall I say stupid about the fact that they have an Internationally BINDING contract that should be FULFILLED FIRST.

This is where I give Ghana a “pat on the back”. Ghana has a standing contract to supply electricity to both Togo and Benin, and no matter how bad things have been in Ghana, these tow countries have received their contractual megawatt of electricity at the expense of all Ghanaians.

Folks, does it mean Ghanaians are more honorable than Nigerians? I would not go that far. Like I said last time, these two countries are like Siamese twins, they are both West African countries, and they are both English speaking.

So draw your own conclusions.

Dumsor is Back

The Siamese twins of (Ghana and Nigeria) are at it AGAIN

Ghana is dependent on Nigeria for gas (fuel) that is used to power the generating plant at Asogli. 

Even though Nigeria is bound by international contract to supply the gas needed to Ghana, “you can NOT get blood out of a turnip”, and labor unrest in Nigeria has compelled the supplier (Nigeria) to suspend the supply of the needed fuel to the end user (Ghana) until the labor issue is resolved.

So Ghana is back to the famous rotating black-out “dumsor”.

This takes us back to the advice I have given in my previous blog, if you plan on doing any kind of manufacturing operation in Ghana, better have a back-up generator or two.

The New Africa-Nigeria

The New Africa-Nigeria

Until April 2014, the largest economy in the Continent of Africa was The Republic of South Africa (RSA). Then without any intentional planning, doing, or calculation, Nigeria with a population of about 150 million finds herself ahead of RSA with a population of about 44 million. One would ask how did that happened or what happened; considering the fact that, 20 years ago, you can NOT mention Nigeria in the same breath with RSA when you are talking economy.

Do not get me wrong, there is no politics without corruption anywhere in the universe. Even in the USA, we once had Mr. Cold Cash, and Africa is no different, but Mr. Jacob Zuma seems to be haunted by more corruption allegations than corruption itself.

This blog is about energy (electricity to be exact) so lets get back to the topic. Nigeria is a county awash in oil, but where electricity generating and it supply or distribution (no pun intended) is concern, Nigeria so reliable (no pun intended) that 9 out of 10 homes or businesses have their own generator or generators. You can generate all the power in the world, but if you can NOT get it to where it is needed, you have nothing; and Nigeria seems to be failing at both.

Now, Nigeria is banking on getting power from The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for her own use and exporting some to other unfortunate West African neighbors. The source of this not yet available electric power is the Grand Inga (and I wrote a little bit about this in 2008). Things still have not changed since I wrote the last piece back in 2008. The DRC is still under producing with the smaller Inga 1 and 2. If you canNOT  take care of a baby or a little child, how do you plan on taking care of an adult.

Is Nigeria trying to buy a ‘pig in the poke’ or counting somebody’s ‘chicken before they are hatched’?

Dumsor (Blackout) is back in Ghana

It is with sad heart that I am bring this bad news to my followers.

Ghana is back to “dumsor”. That is the Ghanaian term for load-shedding. Sadly this is happening without notice. Just found out on a TV program “Tarzan’s Take” that there is a law on the books that none of the major cities namely Accra, Kumasi, Tema, Sekondi-Takoradi is to see more than 48 hours of blackout “dumsor” in any one year period. Speaking for myself in the suburb of Accra (New Achimota) March 09, 2014 to March 16, 2014; I had “dumsor” every blessed day. Monday March 10, 2014, I had “dumsor” for 10.5 hours. There was one other day that I had more than 8 hours.

Now that I am aware of this 48 hour law, I will start keeping tabs on the “dumsor”, that is the frequency and the duration.

I thought when I spoke to the information officer at the Energy Ministry, the data provided is something I can take to the bank, I was living in a fools dreams. It looks like the demand is 1985 megawatts per day, while the production is 1650 Megawatts. Folks, that is a deficit of 335 Megawatts. You cannot squeeze water from a rock, neither can you get blood out of a cabbage.

This country is NOT ready for foreign investors. It is bad when you have to pay to get what is not supposed to be paid for (bribery). But this electricity thing is something else.

It looks like the hippos are back in this environment with a vengeance