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Jirama

State-owned electric utility and water services company in Madagascar

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Jirama (Jiro sy rano malagasy, lit.'Malagasy Electricity and Water') is a state-owned electric utility and water services company in Madagascar.

01History

The Jirama was established on 17 October 1975 when the Société Malagasy des Eaux et Electricité and the Société des Energies de Madagascar merged. Up until 1999, it was the only state-owned electricity company of the country. After 1999, the Jirama maintained its monopoly on transportation and distribution networks.

In 2007, when Antananrivo's Mayor Andry Rajoelina took office, the city's treasury had a debt of 8.2 billion Malagasy Ariary (approximately 4.6 million U.S. dollars). On 4 January 2008, because of unpaid debts to the Jirama, the city of Antananarivo was hit by a general water cutoff and brownouts of the city's street lights. After an audit, it was found that the Jirama owed about the same amount of money to the city.

In 2008, thanks to the launch of a new thermal power plant in Mandroseza, the Jirama was able to service 2,000 additional consumers in Antananarivo. but the shortages persist. According to an IMF report published in March 2018, the Jirama's financial difficulties are a major burden for the Malagasy economy. In June 2018, the Jirama was considering a rehabilitation of its electricity distribution network but in 2023 the company continues to struggle. In December 2022 another case of corruption was revealed and during the years of 2020 to 2022 the deficit continued to increase from 2.520 Billion Ariary to 3.353 billion Ariary.

Power station in Antananarivo
Power station in Antananarivo

02Activities

Headquartered in Antananarivo, the Jirama serves 340,000 clients for electricity in 114 localities and 65 water distribution centres. The Jirama is 100% owned by the government of Madagascar.

03Plants

Madagascar has high photovoltaic power potential.
Madagascar has high photovoltaic power potential.

04Energy

As of 2018, only 15% of the population of Madagascar has access to electricity.

Watch videos about JiramaExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Jirama, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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