a écrit le 29 juillet 2008 à 1h02 Plugging Into Africa
Utility giant AES's plan to electrify the benighted country of Cameroon almost imploded. Now it's shaping up as one of the most unusual turnarounds in global business.
By G. Pascal Zachary
November 1, 2005
(Business 2.0) – The gods were displeased.
That was beyond question to the delegation of tribal chieftains and shamans who gathered one blistering afternoon in 2003 in front of the offices of American utility giant AES in Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, a western African nation of 16 million. The rains had failed to come. Rivers had run dry. Locusts were moving in from the north. Lethal gases had suddenly boiled up from a placid lake in the highlands, killing dozens of villagers.
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It was also abundantly clear to the delegation that AES was a target of this divine ire, and most likely its prime cause. AES runs Cameroon's electricity system, and the drought meant no water to operate hydroelectric dams, which in turn meant a plague of power outages. So the chiefs had arrived, beating drums and leading a menagerie of goats and dogs and chickens, with a proposal: They would slaughter animals and recite the incantations needed to get AES right with the gods, in hopes that the rains would come and the lights would return.
AES officials de
Utility giant AES's plan to electrify the benighted country of Cameroon almost imploded. Now it's shaping up as one of the most unusual turnarounds in global business.
By G. Pascal Zachary
November 1, 2005
(Business 2.0) – The gods were displeased.
That was beyond question to the delegation of tribal chieftains and shamans who gathered one blistering afternoon in 2003 in front of the offices of American utility giant AES in Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, a western African nation of 16 million. The rains had failed to come. Rivers had run dry. Locusts were moving in from the north. Lethal gases had suddenly boiled up from a placid lake in the highlands, killing dozens of villagers.
More from Business 2.0
Live chat: your new online salesperson
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Server farm goes solar
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Current Issue
Subscribe to Fortune
It was also abundantly clear to the delegation that AES was a target of this divine ire, and most likely its prime cause. AES runs Cameroon's electricity system, and the drought meant no water to operate hydroelectric dams, which in turn meant a plague of power outages. So the chiefs had arrived, beating drums and leading a menagerie of goats and dogs and chickens, with a proposal: They would slaughter animals and recite the incantations needed to get AES right with the gods, in hopes that the rains would come and the lights would return.
AES officials de
