Morupule B aftertaste sours China�s new push into African energy (Pt I) :: Mmegi Online

Chinese firms are fast moving from competing for construction and maintenance projects in the African energy space, to increasingly holding equity and being producers on the continent. However, the failures at Morupule B are a warning that when the best laid plans go up in smoke, it is ordinary citizens who must pay the price. MBONGENI MGUNI & BABOKI KAYAWE* investigate the evolving trend in a relationship tainted in the past by under-delivery

In recent weeks, the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), the state-owned electricity utility, has been at the centre of activity in the procurement sector, with the release of two eagerly awaited Requests for Expressions of Interest (REOI).

The first, an REOI for the establishment of a joint Venture with the BPC towards a 100-megawatt solar power facility, was inundated with bidders, receiving 166 responses from across the globe within the few weeks it was open. Chinese companies dominated the list.