Water, power supply in Madagascar's capital returning to normal

Water and electricity supply to Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital, "is returning to normal," Madagascar's prime minister said Thursday.

"The electricity supply by the state-owned company JIRAMA for the population of Antananarivo already exceeds the need of the customers," Prime Minister Mahafaly Solonandrasana said during his visit to water stations that supply water and electricity to Antananarivo.

The prime minister said increased rain in recent days had increased water levels in four hydropower stations that provide electricity for JIRAMA,.

The hydraulic stations had been dry due to the El Nino phenomenon, and JIRAMA, the state-owned company had been struggle to satisfy the water and power demands.

This state company has faced criticism that despite the government injection of 1,500 billion ariary (around 500 million U.S. dollars) in subsidies to run the company, power cuts still reach up to 8 hours a day in some parts of the country.

Territorial coverage of electricity in Madagascar remains low, with only 13 percent of Madagascar's 23 million population having access to electricity, compared to 52 percent in Senegal and more than 75 percent in South Africa. The latest Doing Business report ranked Madagascar 189th out of 189 countries in terms of connections to electricity.

Madagascar is believed to have rich energy potentials yet to be tapped. The country has an average potential of 2,000 kWh per square meter by year in solar energy and about 7,800 MW hydroelectric potential, only 165 MW of which are exploited. Endit