When Ghana sneezes, neighbouring Togo catches cold, remarks a seasoned West African diplomat.
The aphorism may in some empirical circumstances be too far fetched, but the reality has triggered off a new energy crisis in Togo, following the recent internal hydroelectric technical problems facing Ghana, the traditional supplier of Energy to Togo.
Ghana supplies energy to Togo from its Akosombo Dam. Ghana has been doing so for some uninterrupted 30 years.
The Ghana energy crisis has provoked a new spiral of energy power hikes in the midst of public outcry in neighbouring Togo.
But Andjo Tchamdja, Togo's minister for Mines and Power, says Togo is currently faced with gloomy prospects of another deleterious spiral of energy crisis due to what he calls "unavoidable structural and technical factors."
The Energy Minister told the press in Lome that as a result of the cumulative factors, Togo's main energy distribution authority, Compagnie du Benin, CEB, was in financial terms virtually in the RED.
Although the current energy crisis may not possess the magnitude of the previous devastating disaster of 1998 which sent President Gnassingbe Eyadema on a panic hunt for rescuers, Togo's minister for the Energy sector says the gloomy situation is grave enough to call for some form of direct state intervention in order to save the CEB from distress.
Minister Andjo said in Lome that such state intervention called for an upward readjustment in the energy tariffs in order to eliminate the out-dated price regime which has remained static and unchanged for the past 30 years.
Although the minister did not quote the exact figures, sources said the central energy distribution company, CEB, needed extra 4.6 billion FCFA to offset its annual deficit in its supplementary budget.
The company jointly distributes energy requirements to both Togo and the Republic of Benin, estimated at 160 megawatts.
Togo's total energy requirement is conservatively estimated between 120 and 150 megawatts, even though this figure has not been officially confirmed.
But due to internal technical problems Ghana, says the minister, has been unable to supply Togo's total energy needs.
This, the minister said, has therefore been reduced drastically to only 36 megawatts due to recent low water levels of the Akosombo Dam.
Another request to re-transmit 65 megawatts from La Cote d'Ivoire through Ghana has been turned down on grounds of high load and astronomical cost.
However, a less than generous offer of 20 megawatts on "cash and carry" basis appears to have been agreed upon by the Ghanaian authorities.
Both Togolese and Ghanaian officials are tight-lipped about rates and charges but sources said Ghana is demanding an upward adjustment from 50 to 80 US cents per kilowatt.
Ghana's Volta River Authority itself appears to be cash-strapped, and is believed to be indebted to La Cote d'Ivoire to the tune of 32 million US dollars in respect of energy supplied over the years. Ghana imports, at least, 200 megawatts of energy from La Cote d'Ivoire annually.
Under the circumstance, Minister Andjo Tchamdja said the Togo Government has no other choice than to announce an upward hike in energy prices for local consumers.
He attributed and defended the new hikes due to structural and technical factors.
He cited the Ghanaian factor, as well as the 1998 unexpected energy crisis which threw the national budget out of gear
The minister compounded these factors with the last devaluation of the CFA Franc in 1994 to justify the hikes on the tariffs.
Giving the details of the hikes, Minister Andjo Tchamdja said henceforth all small time customers who consume 40 kilowatts will not attract any increases.
About 25,000 small time social consumers are expected to benefit from this relief package.
But the Minister said more than 23,000 customers who require 300 kilowatts for use in their homes will have to pay about 11 per cent increases.
In all, about 10,000 customers who consume above 300 kilowatts per month are expected to cough up extra 22 per cent on their electrical bills.
The Minister announced that local industries with the exception of CIMTOGO, manufacturers of local cement, and the RNET, or TOGO WATER Company whose energy consumption load is heavier than normal will attract extra 11 per cent increases.
In all, Togo has over 90,000 officially registered energy consumers, so the new increases are expected to earn the Togo Electric Company, a private firm that distributes the country's electricity, the estimated 4.6 billions FCFA required to offset the current annual deficit owed by the Benin Electric Authority.
The Benin Electric Authority trades in energy with neighbouring Ghana and in turn makes supplies to main distributors in Togo and the Republic of Benin.
Reactions from organised labour about the hikes have been very hostile.
The local trade unions have described the hikes as unrealistic in the face of the economic sufferings facing Togolese workers.
