The World Bank has imposed a 15-month ban on a Chinese company, Sieyuan Electric Co. Ltd after it emerged that the company falsified its contract in a Bank-funded in 2018.

The sanction, which was announced Tuesday, May 14, is in connection with fraudulent practices under the Inter-Zonal Transmission Hub Project, which was part of the Western Africa Power Pool (WAPP) Programme.

The Shanghai-based Sieyuan Electric Co., Ltd, (Sieyuan), specialises in research and development relating to electricity power technology.

What does this debarment mean?

The debarment makes Sieyuan and its affiliates ineligible to participate in World Bank-financed projects.

It is part of a settlement agreement under which the company acknowledges responsibility for the underlying sanctionable practices, the World Bank explained in a statement.

The $111 million projects, which closed in 2018, was partly funded by a financing agreement with Ghana and was designed to improve the security and reduce the cost of the electricity supply to Burkina Faso while also increasing Ghana’s capacity to export electricity.

It was part of a program designed to establish a power-pooling mechanism to increase the affordability and reliability of electricity for citizens of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

What did Sieyuan do?

According to the facts of the case, Seiyuan falsified its past contract experience to meet the requirements of a contract under the project, which is a fraudulent practice.

The settlement agreement provides for a reduced period of sanction in light of the company’s cooperation and voluntary remedial actions.

As a condition for release from sanction under the terms of the settlement agreement, the company commits to continue to fully cooperate with the World Bank Group Integrity Vice President.

The debarment of Sieyuan qualifies for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks (MDBs) under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions that was signed on April 9, 2010.

West Africa Power Pool

The development objective of the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP) program project is to establish a well-functioning, cooperative, power pooling mechanism for West Africa, as a means to increase access of the citizens of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to stable and reliable electricity at affordable costs.

There are five components to the project. The first component of the project is transmission line between Bolgatanga, Ghana, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The second component of the project is the reinforcement of transmission grid in Ghana.

The third component of the project is the electrification of rural localities along the right of way in Burkina Faso. The fourth component of the project is supervision/owner's engineer.

The fifth component of the project is capacity building and institutional support to Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and SONABEL for project implementation.