The Sierra Leone delegation to the 2024 Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank Group, led by the Hon. Minister of Finance, Sheku A. F. Bangura held a very successful meeting with the Vice President for Energy, African Development Bank, Dr. Kevin Kariuki, at the Kenya International Convention Centre, Nairobi, Kenya.
Speaking with the Vice President, the Hon. Minister informed the VP that there’s an energy crisis in Sierra Leone that requires Partner’s intervention.
He also talked about the general challenges facing the sector, which is taking a toll on the budget which includes payment of subsidies and areas to both the Karpowership and the CLSG.
He also spoke about the challenges EDSA is facing running the sector, like the perennial problem of technical and commercial losses.
Another important agenda put forward to Vice President Karioki was finding sustainable solutions to the Energy situation in Sierra Leone, such as building the much-needed energy infrastructure that will go along with a reform of the system.
Minister Bangura informed the VP about the issue of Bumbuna 2 and other possible options for energy generation, transmission, and distribution were highlighted.
He also noted Sierra Leone is working to define a smooth and calculated strategy for transitioning from an emergency way of power supply to a more sustainable means of harnessing the country’s energy potential, particularly renewable energy.
In his response, the VP reaffirmed AfDB’s commitment to working with Sierra Leone to find a sustainable solution to the Energy Crisis by providing both financial and technical support to the government of Sierra Leone.
He promised that his department would put together a technical paper that would help Sierra Leone define strategies for lasting solutions for energy provision and supply.
He assured the Minister that he would be ready to come over to Sierra Leone and present a technical paper to His Excellency President Bio on energy strategy for Sierra Leone which will be in line with the AfDB strategy for energy.
On the issue of Bumbuna 2, the VP advised the Hon. Minister to work with the Africa Legal Assistance Facility of the AfDB to critically look at the PPA between the government and Joule Africa, to amicably resolve the stalemate that exists between the Developers of Bumbuna 2 and the government.
Other members of the Sierra Leone delegation include the Financial Secretary, Mr. Matthew Dingie (Alternate Governor), The Chief Economist, Mr. Alimamy Bangura, Deputy Financial Secretary Multilateral Project Division, Mr. Morie Momoh and Senior Economist, Kenneth King.
Credit – MoF Communications
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Friday, June 3rd, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)