Guinea-Bissau has been connected since Friday to the regional electricity network that it shares with three neighbors, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea, an additional supply of electricity allowing it, according to its president Umaro Sissoco Embalo, to fully cover the needs of the capital, which is regularly confronted with power cuts.

This infrastructure is part of the interconnection project of the Organization for the Development of the Gambia River (OMVG), aimed at improving access to electricity in Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Guinea.

With a capacity of 800 megawatts and connected by more than 600 kilometers of power lines, the Antula substation is a major advance for regional energy integration, according to the OMVG.

On this occasion, the Head of State of Bissau-Guinea welcomed a “historic milestone” for the electrification of his country and expressed his gratitude to the technical and financial partners who contributed to the realization of this project.

The Gambian President, Adama Barrow, for his part, reaffirmed his support for the OMVG project, calling for the acceleration of the finalization of power purchase agreements for the benefit of Member States.

For his part, Senegalese minister Cheikh Tidiane Dieye said that this project symbolizes “the collective effort to build a space of peace, development and solidarity”.

According to the ONVG, the interconnection power line is a 1,677 km loop connecting Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, of which 218 km are built in Guinea-Bissau.