Receivables from Sudan for electricity exports are piling up as the war-torn country fails to settle its bills for the third year in a row. The bills amount to a reported USD 90 million.
“Sudan hasn’t paid its electricity bills for the third year now,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) told Parliament on Thursday.
Senior officers at the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) confirmed to The Reporter that receivables from Khartoum have topped USD 90 million. Nonetheless, they say the utility provider will continue supplying energy to Sudan.
Overdue electricity bills were not the only time the PM brought up Sudan on Thursday, as Abiy briefed lawmakers on the status of border disputes with the neighboring country.
“Ethiopia is not willing to solve the disputes through violence and will continue supplying electrical power to Sudan despite its inability to pay,” said the PM.
He stated that his administration is unwilling to take advantage of Sudan’s misfortunes and will take risks to ensure peace in Sudan while adhering to the principle of non-intervention. He said that the peace-loving people of Sudan deserve peace.
Last month, the AU announced that Addis Ababa will play host to an all-inclusive political dialogue centered around war-torn Sudan for five days beginning July 10, 2024. Ugandan President Museveni has been charged with facilitating the talks between the heads of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to reach a ceasefire agreement in “the shortest possible time.”
More than 14,000 people are thought to have been killed in Sudan since the brutal civil war broke out in April 2023, with thousands more injured, and more than 10 million people displaced, making it the worst internal displacement crisis in the world, according to the UN.
