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| Old headline from Daily Graphic; New agreement: Volta River Authority to settle its outstanding gas debt to Nigeria's N-Gas in three tranches starting in November |
Ghana's government said
it will pay a Nigerian gas consortium US$170 million it owes by February,
apparently resolving a dispute that led the consortium to threaten to cut its
supply. Ghana's
state power generating company, the Volta River Authority, will settle the debt
to Nigeria's N-Gas in three tranches starting in November, said Kweku Sersah, a
spokesman for Ghana's Ministry of Power.
He
said that the terms were still being finalized.
Reuters report continues:
"The
high-powered delegation that went ... (to the Nigerian capital Abuja) was able
to negotiate for Nigeria Gas (N-Gas) to continue to supply the country the
needed gas," Sersah said in a statement posted on the ministry's Facebook
page.
Ghana's
government has promised to end crippling power blackouts by the end of the
year.
Ghana
gets around 25 percent of its power through gas from Nigeria. The threat by
N-Gas to reduce supplies by 70 percent would have made it harder to achieve the
government's goal of tackling blackouts and could have raised the cost of
supply.
The issue is sensitive in
the run-up to Ghana's election next year that is expected to be closely fought.
Power cuts have angered voters and come on top of a sharp slowdown in the
economy, which for years was one of Africa's strongest.
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