Seven cohorts of staff from the National Control Centre of Société Nationale d’électricité du Burkina Faso (SONABEL) have completed separate series two-week exchange programmes at GRIDCo’s System Control Centre (SCC).
The programme, which is a collaboration between the leadership of both organisations, sought to cement the existing cordial working relationship between both groups of Operators, who have been working for years to facilitate reliable power delivery from Ghana to Burkina Faso, without knowing each other personally. Thus, the programme put faces to the [various] names of these counterparts, and also improve their working bilingual proficiency. Significantly, it served as a good platform for the exchange of ideas on industry best practices between anglophone and francophone countries.
In a brief interview with the Team Leader of the group at the time, Mr. Moïse Zoungrana, Head of SCADA and Technical Service at SONABEL indicated that, since the ‘tie line’ between Ghana and Burkina Faso was operationalised in August 2018, operators in both countries have been working cordially to facilitate reliable power delivery, without knowing each other personally. They were, therefore pleased, when the leadership of GRIDCo agreed to host the exchange programme for SONABEL’s Operators at GRIDCo’s System Control Centre (SCC). Other team members during the time of the interview were, Mr. Kam Be Norbert and Mr. Kabore Ouambe.
Seven batches have been part of the technical exchange programme since January to July 2024, with four (4) Operators at a time.
Shift Leaders at GRIDCo’s SCC, who took turns to coach their Burkinabe counterparts, praised this initiative from the GRIDCo-SONABEL Management Teams, noting that the programme was useful for both teams, since GRIDCo staff also saw it as an opportunity to improve on their working knowledge in French.
Mr. Frederick Akomeah, Chief Technician Engineer, is the Exchange Programme Officer, whilst Rev. Mawutor Abotsi a Senior Technician Engineer serves as the Lead Coordinator for key aspects of the programme. Rev. Abotsi is supported by his senior colleague Shift Leaders, namely; Messrs. Jonathan Numotsu, Assistant Chief Technician Engineer; Joshua Dankwa, Assistant Chief Technician Engineer; Stanley Adjei, Assistant Chief Technician Engineer and Anthony Ansah, Senior Engineer.
GRIDCo Dispatch Operators are yet to take their turn on the GRIDCo-SONABEL Technical Exchange Programme to Burkina Faso.
Société Nationale d’électricité du Burkina Faso (SONABEL) is the national electricity company of Burkina Faso. It represents Burkina Faso in the West African Power Pool. Established on April 14, 1995, it is headquartered in the capital town of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
