Sierra Leon’'s Energy Minister Kanja Sesay resigned on Friday over a weeks-long electricity crisis, the same day the government announced it had paid some of the tens of millions of dollars it owed to two major energy providers.

Electricity supplies have finally been restored in most cities across Sierra Leone following weeks of power cuts, after the country paid off part of the $48m (£38m) bill it owed to two major power providers.

The $18.5m payment came as the country’s Energy Minister Kanja Sesay formally stepped down on Friday, saying in his resignation letter that he took full responsibility for the electricity crisis. The government swiftly responded by placing the energy ministry directly under the supervision of President Julius Maada Bio, with assistance from two appointed officials.

Shortly after Sesay’s resignation, the government said in a statement that it had paid $17m of the $48 million owed to Turkey’s Karpowership, which provides electricity to Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown.

The government also said in its Friday statement that it had paid $1.5m to TRANSCO-CLSG, another electricity provider, which supplies the south and east of the country.

Most electricity supplies to Freetown come from Karpowership, which is anchored off the coast of the West African country.

A spokesman for the company confirmed the payment of $17m and said full electricity supplies had been restored to the capital. “We are pleased to confirm that the power supply at full capacity to Sierra Leone has been restored,” it said in a statement.

Karpowership said last week that it had severely cut supplies to the capital – from 60 megawatts to 6 megawatts – because of the unpaid bills. It said it had not received payment from the Sierra Leonean government for “a protracted period” and was therefore unable to pay fuel suppliers on behalf of the country.

But the power disruption has been going on for far longer. Freetown and the cities of Bo, Kenema, and Koidu have since mid-April experienced multi-day stretches without electricity.

Hospitals have been affected, with the Reuters news agency quoting a doctor as saying that at least one infant has died due to the blackout, while medics have been using mobile phones to provide light as they carry out procedures.

Karpowership previously switched off the electricity supply to Sierra Leone last September over an unpaid debt of around $40m. It had also temporarily curtailed supplies to Guinea-Bissau in October, saying it had no option “following a protracted period of non-payment”.

The company is one of the world’s biggest floating power plant operators, with several African countries relying on it for electricity.