By Sulaiman Jalloh
Ndeye Fatu Koroma, National Coordinator of Sierra Leone Compact Development Unite has said, with the US$480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in Sierra Leone, the country is poised to attract more foreign investors to improve the lives of the people in the country.
The MCC was signed on Friday, September 27, 2024, to improve access to energy across the country which aims to achieve several objectives in the energy sector which includes expansion and strengthening of national transmission backbone, something that is very critical to improving access to electricity in major towns and villages.
Speaking on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at the Ministry of Information and Civic Education weekly press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation conference hall, the national coordinator said about 4.6 million Sierra Leoneans will benefit from the project, noting the four hundred and eighty million dollar (US$480m) is already held at the United States Treasury Fund and will be released as needed throughout the project’s five-year implementation period.
According to the coordinator, the project will focus on reforming key national energy agencies including the country’s generating and supplying agencies, which is the Electricity Generating Transmission Commission (EGTC), the Electricity Distribution and Supply Agency (EDSA) and the Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) to improve digital operation and ultimately lower the cost of tariff. “Now the technical team has the responsibility to take the compact forward” she stated, adding visibility study will commence soonest something she said will last for eighteen months. She added that thousands of 244km pols will be erected including the procurement of sub-station transformers, fiber optic cables among and more.
Madam Koroma pointed out that there is money allocated for the feasibility study phase, noting the government will set up the accountable entity responsible for such, adding that citizens should own up the work. “We want to stop the heat and light issues in the country,” she assured.
