2023-11-10 19:00:07
On November 2, Mamadou Diallo received the electricity bill from his textile company with dismay: the bill amounted to more than 1 million CFA francs (more than 1,500 euros) for the months of September and October, although more than the 150,000 CFA francs bimonthly that he is used to paying. “Our offices only have three air conditioners and a refrigerator, I don’t understand this inflation”, he protests. He is one of the thousands of subscribers of the National Electricity Company of Senegal (Senelec) who shared their shock and anger on social networks.
Like Mamadou Diallo, for several weeks, many Senegalese have been outraged by the unexpected explosion in electricity prices. In January, Senelec had certainly announced an increase in prices of 16 to 19% depending on the consumer billing bracket, due to the reduction in state subsidies. But the outbreak is much greater than announced for customers.
Since the start of the bronca, the Senelec has been trying to calm the anger. The new prices are justified by “high household consumption during heat periods”which lasts from June to October, she explains to World Africa.
This explanation does not convince Oumy Ndour, a journalist who launched an online petitionon October 5, to say “no to the excessive increase in electricity bills” (this has since collected around 44,000 signatures). “The drop in state subsidies, the increase in production costs and the extreme heat cannot explain the jump experienced by bills in Senegal”, she lists. Oumy Ndour saw her bill double even though she was away from home for twenty days out of the two billing months.
Opening an investigation
“We cannot accept that certain invoices go from single to double, to quintuple, or even tenfold without any explanation”, she protests, asking that the latest invoices be reviewed but also that Woyofal, the prepayment system used by 70% of customers, be more transparent. Oumy Ndour’s petition was sent on October 12 to the director general of Senelec, Papa Mademba Biteye. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the company invited customers “to go to the agency for all complaints”.
At the same time, Oumy Ndour submitted a memorandum to the Energy Sector Regulatory Commission (CRSE), which took action on November 2. The authority announced the opening of an investigation.
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