NATIONAL NEWS
NEW YORK — Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, says the government is targeting at least 75 percent electricity access by 2029 as the country seeks to strengthen its energy sector and attract greater private-sector investment.
By: Trokon S. Wrepue – trokon1992seokin@gmail.com
Speaking at a high-level forum in New York focused on powering West Africa’s economic growth, Minister Ngafuan said Liberia’s ongoing development of a second compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is focused on addressing energy and rural connectivity challenges that continue to constrain economic growth.
Ngafuan recalled Liberia’s post-war reconstruction efforts, stressing that energy has remained a critical part of the country’s transformation.
“In the transformation process, the rehabilitation process, the reconstruction process, energy has been key,” he said.
He noted that Liberia’s first MCC compact provided a $257 million grant, which supported the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Mount Coffee Hydroelectric Facility, one of the major casualties of Liberia’s civil war.
According to Minister Ngafuan, the facility was restored and upgraded beyond its pre-war capacity, becoming a major source of electricity generation in Liberia.
However, he said electricity access remained low, standing at about 31 percent when the government began developing the country’s current MCC compact.
“It tells you that a good number of Liberians don’t have access to electricity,” Ngafuan said.
He said Liberia has made progress in reducing the cost of electricity, but acknowledged that prices remain high and require further reductions to make power more affordable and accessible.
“Our ambition is to increase energy access to nothing less than 75 percent by 2029, and we’re on our way, but there’s still ways to go,” he said.
The Finance Minister said the second MCC compact is expected to support improvements in the transmission network, power-sector reforms and investment facilitation, particularly in the mining sector.
Ngafuan also emphasized the importance of reducing both commercial and technical losses within Liberia’s electricity network, while expanding generation capacity.
He said Liberia intends to use MCC resources to help attract additional private-sector investment, stressing that government funding and development grants alone will not be sufficient to meet the country’s energy infrastructure needs.
The Minister said the compact development process has advanced from the concept-note stage into the design phase, with the Liberian government working with MCC officials and development partners to advance the country’s energy and broader economic development priorities.
For his part, MCC Acting Vice President for Compact Operations Jason Small commended Liberia’s approach to addressing challenges within the energy sector.
Small said reducing technical and commercial losses could have an impact comparable to building a new power plant, particularly in countries where electricity networks have suffered from years of inadequate maintenance and the effects of conflict.
“If you can recover, not just commercial losses, but technical losses as well, which are often a vestige of poor networks having been maintained over years, been affected by war, it can be the equivalent of building an entirely new power plant,” Small said.
He praised Liberia for combining efforts to expand electricity generation with measures aimed at reducing losses across the power network.
“By combining your interest in expanding generation, but also in reducing losses, you’re taking a comprehensive approach, which is exactly, I think, the right approach,” Small said.
Minister Ngafuan said the energy agenda forms part of the government’s broader development strategy, known as the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development, which focuses on agriculture, roads, rule of law, education, sanitation and tourism.
The government says improving energy access remains central to Liberia’s efforts to expand economic opportunities, support industrial activity and create conditions for increased private-sector investment.
