NAWEC MD Urges Patience Amid Power Outages, Cites Regional Supply Shortfalls

By Makutu Manneh

Gallo Saidy, managing director of the National Water and Electricity Company, has appealed for patience from Gambians frustrated by persistent power outages, saying reduced electricity imports from the regional grid have contributed to the country’s worsening supply problems.

Saidy spoke Tuesday morning during a visit by President Adama Barrow to NAWEC power stations in Kotu and Brikama. The visit came a day after residents took to the streets in parts of the Greater Banjul Area and Banjul to protest prolonged and frequent electricity cuts.

“We are aware of the frustration and constraints that the Gambian people have,” Saidy said. “We are just asking the Gambian people to give us a little bit of time and patience, and we will get there together.”

“It is not our desire to see people getting frustrated,” he added. “Nobody wants to fail.”

Saidy said the electricity shortage was not unique to The Gambia, describing it as part of a broader regional problem affecting neighboring countries. The Gambia relies on a combination of domestic generation and imported electricity, including supplies from Guinea and Senegal’s national electricity company, Senelec.

According to Saidy, The Gambia received between 70 and 80 megawatts of electricity from Guinea last year, when heavy rainfall kept hydroelectric dams there well supplied. This year, he said, lower rainfall has reduced the amount of electricity available through the regional grid.

He also pointed to the conflict in the Middle East as another factor contributing to the challenges facing the energy sector, though he did not elaborate on its specific effect on The Gambia’s electricity supply.

Saidy said NAWEC crews were working around the clock to install additional generators and increase available capacity. He also cited several renewable-energy projects planned across the country, but cautioned that such investments would take time to become operational.

“We are trying to be doers, to get it done, rather than to come here and tell you nice words,” Saidy said. “We will make sure that this problem is resolved and we go back to normality.”

He said the completion of projects now underway should eventually provide greater stability to the country’s electricity supply.

“When we get to the point where all these projects mature, Gambians will sit down and praise God,” he said.

Saidy also appealed for calm amid public anger over the outages and warned against damaging NAWEC facilities. Electricity infrastructure, he said, is public property, and destroying it would ultimately hurt the same communities already struggling with the power crisis.