Liberia has officially submitted its “National Energy Compact” for financing consideration by the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and other global financing partners at the ongoing World Bank Group and African Development Bank Group Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The proposal was presented on Monday afternoon by the Liberian delegation, which included Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, Minister of Mines and Energy Wilmot Paye, Liberia Electricity Corporation Acting Managing Director Thomas Gonkerwon, Liberia Rural Renewable Energy Executive Director Samuel Nagbe, and Deputy Finance Minister for Economic Management Dehpue Zuo.
Liberia is among the first 14 African countries invited to submit compact proposals.
In an interview with State Radio ELBC from Dar es Salaam, Minister Ngafuan highlighted the World Bank Group’s partnership with the African Development Bank on Mission 300, an ambitious initiative to connect 300 million people to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.
The mission, Minister Ngafuan noted, seeks to accelerate electrification, promote cleaner energy sources, and foster economic growth, job creation, and sector reform across the region.
Minister Ngafuan explained that Liberia’s compact proposal outlines plans to enhance energy infrastructure, increase renewable energy, and improve access to electricity.
Key initiatives include increasing the share of renewable energy, expanding transmission and distribution networks, and increasing the utilization of the CLSG regional electricity network.
He said the proposal also focuses on mobilizing private capital for Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) solutions and clean cooking, improving private sector participation, and enhancing the financial sustainability of utilities.
The Compact, he noted, commits to providing electricity access to 100,000 households from the current 70,000 annually, ultimately increasing the share of the population with electricity access to 75% by 2030, up from the current 32.7%.
It also aims to raise Liberia’s renewable energy share to 75% through hydro resource development, a 20MW solar PV plant at Mt. Coffee, and 70MW of solar PV and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) via an independent power purchase model.
Minister Ngafuan made it clear that the Liberia’s Energy Compact is a set of commitments on what the donors and partners along with the Liberian government can do to boost electricity in the country over the next five years.
Meanwhile, President Joseph Nyumah Boakai is expected to join other African Heads of State at the summit on January 28 to sign a declaration committing to rehabilitating and expanding energy infrastructure, promoting regional integration, and embracing DRE and clean cooking solutions.
