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

Morupule B is P4 billion over budget and still due for a US$120m revamp
Morupule B is P4 billion over budget and still due for a US$120m revamp

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.

Editor's Comment
Something ought to be done about deadly A3 Road

The accident which happened near Marapong village comes after yet another horrific accident which claimed 16 lives in July last year near Hubona. These stats don’t include other accidents where fatalities were not as many as the two.While several factors may have contributed to the two accidents and many others, many believe the biggest with that road is the bad state that the road is in. Unconfirmed reports in the most recent accident state...

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