In a 120-page document entitled “Analysis of Public Expenditure in São Tomé and Príncipe,” the World Bank notes that of the amount assessed for the “restoration of operational capacity” of the company, “US$67 million would be for the water sector and US$61.2 million for electricity.”

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As of January 2018, the document mentions bilateral donors with about US$64 million and multilateral agencies with US$53.6 million as the largest contributors to projects related to the profitability of EMAE, both through soft loans with 30-year amortisation periods and through donations.

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In addition to replacing energy sources by joining or restoring new gas, water or solar units in a project costing some US$19.3 million, the World Bank cites another one aimed at “renewing transmission and distribution equipment for electricity for about US$82.8 million.”

Although the company’s revenues have grown steadily over the last six years, operating costs outstrip total revenues, resulting in increased losses, the document added, and exemplified that “EMAE’s energy revenues in 2016 totalled US$11.6 million while costs reached US$24.9 million.”

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Coverage of the water supply network as a “key performance indicator” was only 47% in Sao Tome and Principe in February 2016, while “the median for water services in sub-Saharan Africa, serving populations of comparable sizes, was between 60% and 70%,” the World Bank’s document said. (macauhub)