The Rural Renewable Energy Authority (RREA) of Liberia Director General Sam Nagbe says there has been a lot of progress made through the global community in the rural areas, but a staggering 600,000 plus homes in the rural areas of Liberia lack electricity.
He said with the help of the World Bank, they aim at connecting at least 300,000 houses; however, getting support from the Government of Liberia has been a major challenge for the entity over the last few years.
Speaking Thursday, November 21, 2024 at the Ministry of Information regular press briefing, Nagbe said the entity receives more support from donors than the Government of Liberia, something that is posing a major challenge to the operation of the institution.
He said government support is low given the fact that the access to energy is a major priority and the budget of the entity doesn’t match the priority. Nagbe said the government needs to put more money into the energy sector that will ensure public commitment.
According to him, probably because most of their funding comes from donors, that is why the government is not giving more support, but the donor’s expect the government to do what they cannot do.
He said with the low income from government, there is no room for growth because the entity won’t be able to hire competent people for the work. He said in 2023, they received a little over US$6,000 for the whole year which is small to run an institution, while in 2024, it increased to US 21,000, but said it is one thing to do allotment and another to do the disbursement.
Nagbe said because of the work they do and the highlights they show every time, in the 2025 budget they are set to get over US$100,000 for goods and services. “That is a huge progress; we cannot be a hundred percent donor supported institution; government needs to support the priorities that they set,” he said.
