Sierra Leone's power minister resigns over 'dumsor'

Electricity supplies have been restored to Sierra Leone following weeks of power cuts, after it paid off part of the $48m (£38m) bill it owed to a Turkish company.

Most electricity supplies to the capital, Freetown, come from a Turkish ship anchored off the country’s coast.

Last week, Karpowership said it had severely cut supplies to the city - from 60 megawatts to 6 megawatts - because of the unpaid bills, but the disruption has been going on for far longer.

Residents of the country's main cities have been going for days on end without any power and hospitals have also been affected.

The Reuters news agency quotes a doctor as saying that at least one infant has died because of a lack of power, while medics have been using mobile phones to provide light as they carry out procedures.

Before supplies were restored, Fatmata Gassim, a second-year engineering student in Freetown, told the BBC's What in the World podcast of her frustration at the lack of power.

Karpowership previously cut supplies to Sierra Leone in September over unpaid bills.