I share with you my experience and what I know of the EAGB (Electricity and Water of Guinea-Bissau) system.
The first year in Bissau, I did not pay for electricity! The fault of the owner of the house who did not take the necessary steps to have a contract in due form AND the administrative mess that EAGB is, who cannot make a new contract to someone until the previous tenant pays his debts while continuing to provide electricity in the rented house... In short!
It was a so-called "mechanical" simple counter where billing should be done through a visual reading of the numbers.
Counters
Arrived in Madina, the electric counter was a 1st generation "pre-pago" pre-paid. The principle is that it's rechargeable. No money, no electricity!
The counter had already been in place for a long time, it was simply a matter of going to pay the amount you wanted using the identification barcode, receiving a code and typing it on the counter to activate the electricity. What is really appreciable in this new system, in addition to being "master" of its consumption, is that we have the possibility of paying by mobile money. It is no longer necessary to travel to an EAGB agency to make the payment. With an Orange Money or MoMo (MTN) account, in less than a minute at any time of the day or night, you can receive your code and not be in trouble.
What I never understood though, is a certain "bonus" system. Basically, if you buy your refill on the 1st of the month, you earn more megawatts.
Unfortunately, I lost the screenshots I had taken with my previous phone when I was trying to understand this bonus story. What discouraged me is that, for example, if on the 1st of the month, you only had 5,000 XOF (which gives +/-40kWh and let's say 10kWh bonus for example) and your monthly consumption were to be higher, the day you want to put 5,000XOF again in the same calendar month, the 5,000 XOF will give you less than 40kWh, while someone who has 10,000 XOF on the 1st of the month will receive 80 kWh + 20kWh. EAGB adapts the price of its kWh "at the customer's face" or at least, to its mode of payment.
I can understand the penalization of heavy consumers when the electricity supply is limited, but I find this system deeply unfair for the poorest who have very fluctuating incomes.
I stopped trying to understand and earn this famous bonus. We understood that we were spending about 25,000 XOF per month, which corresponds to about 150kWh.
At the time of writing this article (August 2023), we moved to the Jerico district where we had the mechanical counter for 6 months, where there was a debt of 156,000 XOF. This is to tell you that first, ask what type of counter is installed in the house. Second, if it's a mechanical counter (this should be increasingly rare in the coming years) ask for the debt balance of the account as well as a copy of the EAGB contract. I am of the opinion that you should even go directly to EAGB with the reference of the contract to have the updated balance, because it could be that between the date written on the last receipt that your landlord gave you and your entry into the house, he's family last made use of the current. That way, whatever happens, you're on top of things from the start.
If there is a balance of debt and if you can afford it of course, I advise you to pay this debt and have it deducted from the first rent you will pay after the advance.
Why? Because EAGB's "mechanical" payment system uses the money received to cover the oldest invoices. Even if you only strictly pay the amount you owe, this money will go to old debts and this can be confusing when you leave the accommodation yourself. Obviously it's a detail and the situation can be easily resolved by calculating A+B but I'm the one who avoids talking to the owner for "nothing".
Rates per kWh
Since July, (and after 11 days without electricity!!) EAGB has installed a new generation digital pre-paid counter, with a remote control!
At installation, they give you 5kW just to give you time to go to the agency.
On July 5th, therefore, I get to activate the new counter. Activation only takes a few minutes then queue to pay for your 1st recharge. The servants there are so "stressed out" that, unless there is a problem, it goes relatively quickly.
So I paid 25,000XOF. and here is the detail:
- A "power tax": almost 1,000xof
- I will inquire about TSPR: 600xof
- 5kWh debt... so it wasn't a welcome gift? They can't offer 400 XOF to their customers?!
- VAT called here IGV: 3.200XOF. I assume this tax is calculated on the energy cost line?
- Thus, energy cost for 22.851 XOF excluding taxes I received 148kW which gives 155 XOF per kW excluding tax or 175 XOF taxes included.
When looking at the price table on the official EAGB website, I do not come across my excluding tax price nor my tax included. My calculations are surely wrong somewhere but it should be easy for the consumer to know in which band and on which price he is charged! But why make it simple when you can make it complicated, right?
My conclusion
We are two adults, one child, without television, two laptops that easily work 8 hours a day and therefore recharged at least twice. 2 telephones and 2 external batteries.
1 small fridge, a small freezer, a student size electric oven, a microwave, a kettle as well as a washing machine, it seems to me that it takes 9kg. Oh! I almost forgot! Siphiwe's fan running 23h/24! Even with this, 150kWh is enough for a month without restriction.
I agree to keep a different price system between social, commercial and industry. But for me the rest of the subdivisions are superfluous. The supply of electricity is already below demand while a very large part of the population does not even have a fridge! We are only at the beginning of the curve of lifestyle evolution and we will be destined to use more and more energy. The opacity and/or the lack of updating of prices is a black point. And I'm not even talking about the glaring lack of digitalization of customer service which makes it highly inefficient!
According to this article by "the economist of Faso", Guinea-Bissau is in the top 3 of the most expensive electricity in the ECOWAS zone...
My Guinétopia minute
Everything needs to be reviewed at EAGB and that's obvious! On the other hand, I refuse the doctrine which would say that it is complicated to reform the institution (or any other for that matter).
A reliable database and digitization are the prerequisites for change because they allow structured and quantifiable monitoring of progress and thus provide a clear vision and transparency! I am paraphrasing here Sankara who said that the people must become aware of the cost of their aspirations. It's good to require electricity everywhere, all the time and cheap, but are we aware of the colossal investments to be made for this? How long does it take? Alternative solutions that might cost less?
This consciousness, I would like to bring it even to the deepest of the villages! This is the primary goal of #Guinetopia!