Chinese firm Gezhouba Group (CGGC) has made the decision to temporarily discontinue construction of the Kandadji hydroelectric project on the Niger River as a result of the coup to overthrow the president in the beleaguered country.
In a statement, CGGC said that “Faced with this force majeure, we have been forced to halt all construction activities for a week and gradually terminate the contracts of local workers.” The company did say that it would give priority to those workers when work restarts. “We promise to give priority to our redundant workers when recruiting once construction of the Kandadji dam resumes.”
The construction of the $800 million Kandadji project began in 2019 and is expected to increase power to the national grid by 50% upon completion, adding 130MW of electricity. The most recent estimated completion date was March of 2026, but this latest stoppage will see that date most likely pushed out further.