The contract between the Senegalese State and the Turkish company Karpowership, which operates a floating power station off the coast of Dakar, continues to raise serious questions. Concluded in 2019 without a call for tenders, this agreement weighs heavily on the public finances, in a climate of insufficient transparency. According to the journal Libération, the report of the Court of Auditors on the public finances is based on significant payments made in 2023 in favor of Karpowership, without any apparent justification. Two particularly significant transactions were registered on 19 December 2023: 3,7 billion FCFA and 9,2 billion FCFA paid to the Turkish company, without official explanation. Some estimates put the cost at between 30 and 50 billion FCFA per year, a considerable burden given that Senegal currently has a local infrastructure capable of providing electricity. In Gabon, the Turkish company is being investigated by the National Commission for the Fight against Corruption and Illicit Enrichment (Cnicei). The project, involving two floating power plants, would represent a cost of 12 billion FCFA per month for the Gabonese State. In the light of the pressure exerted by the new transitional authorities, Karpowership had to renegotiate its contract, although the investigation is still ongoing.
Karpowership: an opaque contract which plumbs the finances of Senegal
