Somaliland orders power price cut in four towns

On 25 June 2020, Somaliland's Ministry of Energy and Minerals issued a ministerial directive ordering four power companies to lower electricity prices with immediate effect, according to a report published that day by Somaliland Standard.

The companies named in the directive are SEPCO (Erigaabo), Aloog (Borama), Telesom (Borama) and Sool Power (Las Anod). The parenthetical place names are as they appear in the report; whether they indicate where each company operates or where it is headquartered is not clarified.

The ministry said the directive followed the failure of some power supply companies to comply with an earlier order to lower what it called high prices. Somaliland Standard reports that the ministry was responding to complaints from citizens about the cost of electricity, and it cited the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the low global oil price as context.

"This ministerial directive is meant to assure the public that the Ministry of Energy and Minerals is committed to fulfilling its obligations to its commitment to address the concerns of Somaliland Citizens and at the same safeguards the rights of electricity companies," the ministry said, according to the Somaliland Standard report. The statement was released by the office of the Minister of Energy and Minerals.

The ministry, which describes itself as responsible for designing, guiding and implementing the national goal of Energy, Minerals, and Petroleum in Somaliland, said the directive sought to promote "cheap, clean, and affordable power supply."

Somaliland Standard's article does not state whether the four companies have lowered their prices, nor does it provide any data on the electricity prices before or after the directive. It does not establish that the directive has been enforced, and it does not quantify the economic effects of COVID-19 or the oil price decline that the ministry cited. No copy of the directive or its reference number is included in the report.

The report also does not document the earlier directive that the ministry said some companies failed to comply with. Without access to that earlier order, the basis for the ministry's claim of non-compliance cannot be independently assessed.