Presidents Adama Barrow and Macky Sall have Tuesday used the platform of their joint press conference to clear the air regarding the energy deal between the two countries.
Senegal’s electricity company SENELEC is
exporting power to NAWEC under an agreement that has been criticised
for being a ‘bad deal’ for the Gambia.
“Senegal has an energy surplus. That is why we decided to partner with them for the supply of electricity to the Gambia,” President Adama Barrow told reporters during the news conference held at Kairaba Beach Hotel, Kololi.
The three-day Presidential Council meeting between Senegal and the Gambia with a renewed commitment of both leaders to take bilateral cooperation to unprecedented levels. Six major agreements have been signed in a bid to strenghten ties between the two countries.
Barrow seized the opportunity to make it clear that the Gambia is a sovereign state.
”This is a temporal measure geared towards helping the Gambia to stabilise its energy sector,” he said.
He went further to say that the Gambia has a already got a road map for the energy sector and the NAWEC-SENELEC deal is a short and medium term project.
His Senegalese counterpart, Macky Sall allayed fears about a possible ‘bad deal’ for NAWEC.
He said he cannot imagine endorsing commercial and economic deals that are disadvantageous for Gambia.
“What we did was based on mutual respect,” he said.
As some parts of the country are now enjoying electricity 24/7, the joint communique endorsed by the two heads of states called for SENELEC “to provide the adfitionnal 1 MW from Karang power station to supply Amdalai-Barra area by April 2018.”
Meanwhile, Gambia’s organic intellectual Madi Jobarteh has raised the alarm bell over NAWEC-SENELEC deal, saying the agreement requires to be negotiated with the best interest of the Gambia.
“Therefore the terms of the agreement for energy supply from Senegal must be reviewed to determine how beneficial or detrimental it is to the Gambia,” he said in an opinion pièce widely shared on social media
platforms.
The Executive Secretary of the Senegalo-Gambian Secretariat Ambassador Paul Badjie, who spoke to this reporter, said the agreement has been signed between two countries that are very close.
“They did it without even thinking about the cost. It is not disadvantageous for NAWEC as SENELEC is not making any profit in the
deal,” he added.
Written by Abdoulie JOHN
The absence of the financial details is disappointing;
If Senegal is making no profit from this deal/ they must have a cost price/ which would be useful to know/ what price are NAWEC paying ? Then what price is the end user paying ?
If any business runs at no profit, it is in essence trading at a significant loss/
Is this a deliberate attempt to mislead or is this a genuine gift from Senegal/?
I also find it strange for President Barrow to state firmly that Gambia is a sovereign nation. I think The Office of The President have handled this news rather poorly/
The omissions to the questions not being answered with the financial detail/ is only going to fire objections and avoidable mystery.
Mike,
This uneducated man cannot stand the strong test of Macky Sall. He cannot read the details of agreements signed to discern the meanings/contents. So any deal between our two countries is at the expense of the Gambia.
Senegal would NEVER sign a deal with the Gambia to gain 50% of the bite. NEVER!
This is a significant development and one could even say; it long over due. The Gambia and Senegal are two countries but one nation. Sometimes ago Foroya took the officials to task by demanding a blue print but constructively and answered or not it still maintains it importance in the whole affair.
However the principles or rule in supply and demand is will be playing a major role in this process. Sometimes sceptics or rather opponents do try to capitalise on sensitives like this particular one at hand. Hence the Gambia has its future plans to access the commodity, electricity is worth taking, as it can only give the countrys economic and social stance a good footing.
WE CONGRATULATE THE TWO LEADERS- LIKE-MINDS:
Lack of the leadership and experience , That’s the price we pay to Macky Sall , if Senelec bosses donate Houses to our inexperienced president ,it’s a shame a very poor business and we all know what Senegal like to see the Gambia depending on Senegal .
The overall objective must be to bring NAWEC and Gamtel/Gamcel into profit/
This being a short term measure is fair enough/ But the government must have a solid policy for the future/ Energy and Water security is the single most important issue for the government/ How it deals with it will surely define the success or failure of the Barrow coalition Government.
Why the government’s lack of transparency continues, can only mean they have not yet formed a policy/That can be explained and brought out into the open.