The Vice President of Liberia, Jeremiah Kpan Koung, has disclosed that only 33% of the Liberian population has access to electricity.
The vice president made the disclosure Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, through his Chief of Office Staff, Prince Menkalo Gbieu at the launch of Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission (LERC) Regulatory Database Management System.
According Koung, while it is true that government has made some progress in providing electricity to Liberians, the government is still falling short of the 52% which is the World Bank’s minimum standard for a population access to electricity.
He narrated that the challenges faced in the electricity sector are serious and real, but said as government, they are determined to confront those challenges and bring relief to its citizens.
“Ten years ago, we provided electricity to only 13% of our population; a situation which suffocated our economy and affected our local businesses and industries,” the Vice President explained.
He averred that the energy sector remains the easiest pathway to attract the necessary investments, expansion growth and development.
Liberia’s Vice President noted that it is important to know that the electricity sector of Liberia was characterized by monopoly of supply of generation, transmission and distribution services where government policymaking, regulatory and operational functions were not clearly defined.
“As a result, the national utility, private operators and informal micro-utilities in Liberia were self-regulation with poor quality of service and high cost of electricity services,” Vice President Koung said.
The Vice President explained that to address such situation, the 2009 National Energy Policy of Liberia was promulgated, leading to the enactment of the 2015 Electricity Law of Liberia, which established the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission as an independent regulator of the electricity sector.
“This achievement by the government has added momentum to the ongoing reform of the electricity supply industry to transform it into an electricity market to boost economic growth and development,” Vice President Koung stated.
He noted that one of the key implementations of the government’s ARREST development agenda is capacity building and institutional strengthening, which is the channel to develop the necessary infrastructure for effective and efficient government service deliveries.
Vice President Koung narrated that the government will continue to work with LERC and its development partners to invest in building the capacity of Ministries, Agencies and Commission (MACs) responsible for planning, resource mobilization, project and program development and management.
