In the wake of the approved Compact, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio continues to assure the citizenry of his government’s commitment to strengthening the country’s democracy and drive economic development. In a recent X post, the president said that the recently approved compact by the Millennium Challenge Corporation Board is a critical part of the government’s plan to reform the energy sector.
In an interview, the MCC’s CEO speaks over Sierra Leone’s $480 million grant to BBC’s Audrey Brown.
Audrey Brown: So tell me what were the criteria by which Sierra Leone got this $480 million for the electrification of the country?
Alice Albright: MCC’s mandate is to reduce poverty through economic growth, and that when we choose a country to work with; there are essentially two different criteria we look at. One is whether or not a country is low income enough, and Sierra Leone qualifies for that. And the second overall, we put in place is our scorecard and that looks at countries essentially on three different policies: one is whether or not a country is managing its economy well, another one is whether or not a country is investing in people. And the third is whether or not a country is a democracy and tries to fight corruption, and we issue those scorecards every year. So, Sierra Leone was selected both as being low income enough and having passed our scorecards.
Audrey Brown: Let’s talk about electricity. Was that the clincher for Sierra Leone? Or did they propose to use the money for something else, and then you selected on electricity?
Alice Albright: This is a very important part of how we work. Once a country has been selected by our board of directors, we then enter into a process called constraints to growth, which involves working hand-in-hand with the country to identify what are the biggest challenges to growth. And once a shortlist is developed, the country then gets to select the area they want to work with. And so electricity was chosen in that manner, and certainly you will be familiar with the electricity challenges that the country faces. A substantial number of people living in the country don’t have access to electricity. I believe about 70% of people don’t have access to electricity. For those who do have access to electricity, it is often intermittent and very expensive. So the country selected that, and we then went out to start working together to design different projects.
Audrey Brown: The MCC says they are impressed with democratic reforms undertaken by the Sierra Leonean government. Can you tell us a little bit more about what those were?
Alice Albright: In the process of bringing the compact to our board of directors, we developed some concerns about electoral reforms. So we have been in dialogue with the country for a number of months now and the country itself held a dialogue for national unity, and out of that came the drafted electoral committee report that identified a significant number of 80 recommendations to make reforms around the electoral reforms.
Audrey Brown: Is it a grant? Or is it a loan?
Answer: Alice Albright: MCC is only a grant. One of the things that countries find very useful working with the MCC is that we are only grant funded. It is only a grant.
Audrey Brown: Is the Sierra Leonean government expected to chip in as well?
Alice Albright: They are chipping in, and it was a voluntary contribution. We are grateful for it. They will be adding a little bit over $14 million.
Audrey Brown: And how is the money disbursed? Do you discuss it with the Sierra Leonean government on how they are going to use it for equipment, personnel, and staff or exactly where the money goes?
Alice Albright: Yes, it was all very carefully worked on in partnership with the Sierra Leonean government. So following the overall selection of electricity as a sector, there was then a subsequent process that looks to identify root cause analysis. Once those specific problems are identified, we then start designing projects to address those problems. Now in this case, we have three integrated projects. The principal one is to really update the transmission backbone of the country and these are investments seen in transmission lines.
We then have another significant program around distribution, and the third program is power sector reform, which is looking at some of the financial viability and financial management issues. All of those projects have been carefully worked out with the Sierra Leonean government. Now, we will carefully describe in all the documentation what will go into place in recognising the compact. The way the MCC works around the world is that we set up an entity in every country that is called the MCA which is responsible for accountability and implementation. The entity is responsible for implementing the works but very much in close coordination with the MCC because we always have guidelines and parameters that need to be put in place. So the MCA would be put in place, and they would be responsible for the implementation and sustain close touch with us here in Washington.
Audrey Brown: So is the MCA or whatever form it takes actually responsible for ensuring that the money goes where it’s meant to go or into a suspended account?
Alice Albright: The money is sent straight to the contractors that are actually undertaking the work.
Audrey Brown: How do you ensure that corruption, which is one of the metrics by which you measure whether you give countries money or not, does not happen?
Alice Albright: We too are interested in corruption. It is one of the measures that we look at in our scorecards, and so one of the things we found in the successful implementation approach over the 20 years we have been in this business is to set up the MCAs and then to be very clear about the money we spent. Also we make sure the money goes straight to the contractors that are then selected through a competitive selection process to actually undertake the work.
Audrey Brown: So people submit or company submit proposals, and then it’s chosen on that basis? Is it not a sort of shut out process where only companies from certain countries can submit?
Alice Albright: We have got a competitive tender process. It is a highly competitive process.
Audrey Brown: Is there anything that the Sierra Leonean government would have to pay back? I know it’s a grant but supposing you feel that a project stops going very well. It is not just working.
Alice Albright: We are not payable. We are very focused on implementation. So once we start implementing, all the projects have to be implemented within five years as part of a law the MCC operates under. We have agreed with the MCA. We will be in close coordination with the relevant ministries in Sierra Leone that is exactly what the implementation involves and we keep working together with the Sierra Leonean government with MCA. Very close tabs on implementation. It is everybody’s interest that the project really does get implemented on time. If there is any delay or concern, we work as a team with the Sierra Leonean government with the MCA, and we would address issues immediately as they arise.
The interview was transcribed by Politico’s Ibrahim Sorie Fofana
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