<div><main data-testid="main-content" id="main-content"><article><header></header><div data-component="image-block"><figure><p><span><picture><source srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg.webp 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg.webp 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg.webp 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg.webp 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg.webp 800w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg.webp 976w" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="Picture taken on March 9, 2019 shows an aerial view of the presidential palace (top R), and the Estadio Lino Correia (L) in Bissau, capital city of Guinea-Bissau, the day before the country's parliament election" height="549" loading="eager" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg 800w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/2267/production/_131470880_gettyimages-1129463168.jpg 976w" width="976"></img></picture></span><span role="text"><span>Image source, </span>AFP</span></p><figcaption><span>Image caption, </span><p>Guinea-Bissau has one of the lowest electricity connection rates in Africa</p></figcaption></figure></div><div data-component="text-block"><p><b>Turkish company Karpowership has restored power to Guinea-Bissau's capital after cutting off supplies over an unpaid bill of $15m (£12m).</b></p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>The company resumed operations late on Wednesday after receiving a payment of $6m from the government.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Bissau had been plunged into darkness for nearly two days, with hospitals affected and radio stations off-air.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>The country is one of the poorest in the world and has been beset by instability since independence.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>In 2019, its government signed a deal with Karpowership, one of the world's biggest floating power plant operators, to supply the country with all its power.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>A spokesperson for the company told the BBC that Karpowership was "grateful" for Guinea-Bissau's efforts to pay the bill, which made it possible to resume electricity supplies.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>"Following a protracted period of non-payment, our fuel suppliers were no longer able to withstand the delay and had no option but to pause work," the spokesperson added. </p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Energy Minister Isuf Baldé confirmed that $6m of the $15m bill had been settled.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>"In a small and poor country like Guinea-Bissau, carrying out a transfer operation of this level, $10m, takes time," he said.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>He added that the contract with Karpowership needed to be renegotiated because costs had almost doubled since it came into effect, making it unaffordable. </p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Power was cut in Bissau, a city with a population of more than 400,000, in the early hours of Tuesday.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Some public hospitals used generators to carry out surgery, local journalist Assana Sambu told the BBC.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>But they did not have running water because there was not enough electricity, and hospital directors appealed for power in order to cook food for their patients.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Another journalist, Alberto Dabo, said he resorted to drinking water from a well because water supplies had been cut amid the sweltering heat which reaches 40C.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Media outlets were also affected by the power cut, with state-run Rádio Nacional among those that stopped broadcasting,</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Guinea-Bissau has one of the lowest electricity connection rates in Africa, estimated at 10% nationally and 20% in the city of Bissau, according to the African Development Bank.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Power outages in Bissau are frequent, with some parts of the city going without power for more than four hours a day.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>The World Bank said in 2020 that Guinea-Bissau's "electricity sector has been trapped in a downward spiral for decades" due to political instability, poor management, lack of planning and "vested interests".</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Karpowership supplies electricity to six other African countries - Ghana, The Gambia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Senegal and Sierra Leone.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>The Turkish company has also signed a deal with South Africa, saying it will cover more than 5% of the country's electricity needs.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>But it has taken a tough line over non-payment. Last month, it cut power to Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, over an unpaid bill of $40m.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Although access to electricity has increased in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, it still remains low, with more than 50% of the region's population having no grid connection, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).</p></div></article></main></div>