By Sallieu S. Kanu
Last week, after years of hard work the government of President Julius Maada Bio finally succeeded in landing the Millennium Challenge Corporation grant of US$480 million. This is one of the biggest compact grants to be approved for any country.
The grant will be injected to transform the energy sector in the country, which is critical to growth.
Following the approval of the money, the question is how will it be used?
At the regular weekly government press briefing, the National Coordinator for the Compact Development Unit, Ndeye Fatu Koroma has explained the areas of focus.
Madam Koroma said the project will broadly focus on three key areas: the Transmission Backbone, Access and Distribution and Reform in the energy sector.
With the Transmission Backbone, Koroma said the MCC money will be invested to complete the transmission loop from Newton in the Western Area to Pujehun District in the South. The investment will also see the construction of a national dispatch center at Newton, which will station both the power provider and supplier – Electricity Generation and Supply Authority, EGTC, and the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority, EDSA, to monitor the grid and make real time decisions aided by technology.
The MCC Coordinator said over US$ 200 million will be spent on this aspect of the project. “This will transform the private sector,” she added.
The second project will look into investment into Access and Distribution. This project will ensure cities, towns across the country are connected to the main electricity grid. Sierra Leone’s electricity penetration is around 30%, this project will look to expand on that significantly. Among a number of steps under this project, Madam Koroma said: “We would decommission the shield wire in Makeni and build a substation to improve the electricity situation.”
She said it is important for the network to be strong and resilient to increase evacuation capacity and improve stability. Around US$120 million has been set aside for this.
The third aspect is on reforming the sector. Koroma said MCC will support the government on whatever direction they want to take with EDSA when considering the current plans for privatization to improve its financial viability
and enhance the transmission capacity of EGTC. She said reform is an important aspect of the project because it will guarantee sustainability.
“At the top of our mind is to make sure every dollar that has been promised to Sierra Leone is spent, and the good thing is that we have the experience. We had implemented the US$44.4 million threshold program, so this is to build on that,” Koroma said.
Following the announcement of the grant, Sierra Leone is expected to sign the deal latest September, according to the coordinator, which will then start# the five-year lifespan of this strategic investment. US$ 42 million has already been earmarked for the mobilization and design phase of the projects. Koroma said she is proud that Sierra Leoneans have led this effort and will continue to do so.