By Alpha Abu
The President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio says the approved Millennium Corporation Challenge (MCC) Compact Grant of $480 Million for the country’s Energy Sector represents a “significant investment in our country’s future, ensuring that our citizens have access to affordable and reliable power to drive economic growth and opportunity’’.
The President was reacting to the latest development in his X account formerly Twitter .The United States based MCC Board on Wednesday 26th June 2024 approved the grant for investment in Sierra Leone’s energy sector.
“This approval paves the way for a transformative partnership between Sierra Leone and the United States. I commend all those who have worked tirelessly to make this milestone a reality’’, Bio continued
The MCC Board in a statement in the immediate aftermath of the approval said: ‘’In Sierra Leone, 70 percent of the population does not have access to electricity. The MCC compact with Sierra Leone is important for its potential to deliver affordable energy for 4.6 million people’’.
The statement noted that in making the decision recognition was given to the ‘’ progress made to implement the Agreement for National Unity including the draft Electoral Review report, which is expected to be finalized and published in the coming days’’.
Such actions, according to the MCC Board’s statement ‘’represent a critical advancement of efforts to strengthen Sierra Leone’s democratic and electoral institutions following the June 2023 elections’’.
The Sierra Leone Compact Development Unit also issued a Press Release saying after the agreement would have been signed it would be ‘’one of the largest per capita investments in the sub-region made by the MCC’’, and which ‘’reflects the strong partnership between the Government of Sierra Leone and the United States of America’’.
It says the energy grant will ensure transformational investment that could ‘’expand and strengthen the national transmission backbone, increase access to electricity in major towns, and improve the sector's financial viability through governance reforms and institutional strengthening’’.
Various government officials have also reacted to the latest development with excitement. Chief Minister in the Office of the President, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh in a post on X paid glowing tribute to President Bio for his guidance and leadership. Dr. Sengeh on a wider scale said: ‘’we will continue working with our partners for the development of this country’’.
State House Press Secretary, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi also on X was full of praise for President Julius Maada Bio for his focus in achieving the feat saying ‘’your tireless efforts have propelled Sierra Leone into a position of strength and opportunity that will benefit generations to come’’.
Progress on the MCC Compact experienced a hiatus following the June 2023 General Elections and concerns raised by the main opposition.
However engagements between the government and the MCC continued on how the process could be revived. Chief Minister Sengeh held discussions in Freetown with MCC’s Governing Managing Director, Dan Barnes in October 2023 during which the chief minister gave assurances of government’s commitment to have an inclusive national development policy that will provide room for the opposition and other key stakeholders in the country’s governance system. That meeting was also attended by US Ambassador to Sierra Leone Bryan Hunt.
The MCC compact is designed for countries manifesting good economic policies with great potential for further economic growth. The Corporation itself is based in Washington. It was endorsed by the US Congress in 2004.
Increases in population, migration to urban areas, the emergence of factories and agro-based industries coupled with technology advancement, have seen the demand for electricity largely outweighing supply. The present government upon first coming into office in 2018 embarked on large scale rural electrification using solar-powered mini-grids. It has also brought in the CLSG energy project for mainly rural Sierra Leone from Ivory Coast under an arrangement that has also benefited other countries Liberia and Guinea.
The government also inherited and still maintains the Turkish Karpowership – a vessel berthed off the Freetown Bay that supplies the Western Area that includes the capital Freetown, with electricity.
The Bumbuna Hydro-dam in the north of the country is also another source of power generation but all of these have not been able to meet the electricity demands across the country. Bumbuna has over the years been fraught with operational breakdowns of its turbines leading to perennial repairs whilst problems such as the felling of trees on the transmission lines in thick vegetation across the border in Liberia has also in several instances disrupted the CLSG power transmission to Sierra Leone.
Also, the Turkish powership has on several occasions shutdown notably because of outstanding arrears to be paid by the Electricity Generation and Transmission Company (EGTC). The company is responsible for selling power wholesale to the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) which in turn sells to the general consumers. The Central American nation of Belize was the other country approved alongside Sierra Leone on Wednesday by the MCC for a $125 million grant to support the energy and education sectors in the country. Signing of the approved grants is expected to take place in the coming days.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (01/07/24)
