30 April 2013, Monrovia – Liberia has secured a US$35 million World Bank loan for expansion of its energy sector.
The deal was a result of intense negotiations with global financial institutions and stakeholders, and was brokered during a recent World Bank-IMF spring meeting.
At the meeting, the country’s Finance Minister Amara Konneh, leading high power delegation, reportedly made a strong case for continued support to Liberia’s medium term development drive, known as the Agenda for Transformation, AFT.
“Out of the total US$35 million World Bank loan commitment, US$20 million will go towards the transmission and distribution lines from Paynesville to Kakata, Margibi County to provide access to electricity for about 18,000 new customers, while US$11 million will go towards constructing facilities to off-load, store and pump Heavy fuel Oil, HPO, for power generation. The remaining US$4 million will be used for capacity building at the Ministry of Land, Mines and Energy,” a release on the deal said.
It was gathered that the Liberia Accelerated Electricity Expansion Project, LACEEP, will finance a 66 kv sub-transmission line between the Paynesville sub-station in Monrovia and the city of Kakata, providing electricity to new customers that will include residential users, small businesses, institutional consumers, and a few agro-industrial customers.
The HFO facilities will include a large storage tank in Bushrod Island, a pipeline connecting the Bong Mining Company, BMC, pier of the China Union Concession to the storage tank with a pumping station.
Commending the World Bank officials for the loan facility granted Liberia, Konneh, however, reiterated that the total demand for energy today in Liberia astronomical.
“Before the war, the (Mt. Coffee) hydro produced about 64 mw; today the demand is close to 250MW. Therefore we need to do something about the energy issue quickly to encourage production and manufacturing in the country, which will lead to creating jobs and engender strong and sustained growth in our economy,” he stated.
