Liberia: 16,806 low-income households in Monrovia to benefit from electricity connections

News Release No:2011/03/GPOBA.MONROVIA, December 21, 2011. The World Bank, acting as administrator for the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA), has approved a grant of US$10 million to connect about 80,000 people to Monrovia’s electricity grid, raising the electricity access rate in Liberia’s capital from 0.6 percent to 8 percent. GPOBA funding will supplement capital allocations from various donors to install connections, initially targeting 21 priority low-income neighborhoods. The scheme will be implemented by the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), the sole power company in the country.

Liberia is one of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 64 percent of the population living below the national poverty line.  A decade and a half of successive armed conflicts devastated the nation’s infrastructure and institutions, reducing access to key services like electricity to practically zero. Most households depend on expensive and polluting energy alternatives including kerosene, dry cell batteries and diesel generators for lighting and electricity needs. Households without access to grid electricity are estimated to spend up to 50 percent of their disposable income on energy-related expenditures. 

“This innovative output-based aid scheme will help the Government of Liberia’s urgent goal to increase and improve access to electricity for its citizens,” said Ohene Nyanin, World Bank Country Manager for Liberia.  “The project will help make access to electricity more affordable by subsidizing the cost of connection and more inclusive by explicitly targeting the poor.”

GPOBA will pay LEC a capital subsidy of US$595 for each connection installed. The connections made through the output-based aid (OBA) scheme will help LEC increase its customer base and secure resources for further investments in access programs. Also, the utility will be able to speed up its goal to reduce tariffs and subsequently energy expenditure for Liberian households. LEC estimates that for every 10,000 new customers it acquires, tariffs will reduce by US$0.03-0.04. Ultimately, the savings made by households will help make more spending available for other commodities and education. LEC will receive the subsidy payment in two phases and in accordance with the OBA approach, only after independent verification of household connections. 80 percent will be paid after a connection in a priority neighborhood is made and verified; and the remaining 20 percent will be paid upon verification of proof of three months satisfactory service delivery to target households.

“We hope that by using this innovative and results-based approach--as part of a wider effort to expand distribution and power generation capacity in Monrovia—we can make affordable electricity connections a reality for all and help to improve living conditions among the poor,” said Shahid Mohammad, CEO of Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC).

The GPOBA project is part of the Liberia Electricity System Enhancement Project (LESEP).  The scheme will be financed jointly by GPOBA (US$10 million), the Government of Norway (US$5.8 million), and user contributions (US$0.8 million).  LESEP is funded through a US$29 million grant from the Government of Norway, a US$10 million IDA credit from the World Bank and US$2 million grant from the World Bank’s Africa Renewable Energy Access (AFREA) program.

Contacts: In Washington: Jacqueline Sibanda, tel. (+1) 202 458 2974, jsibanda@worldbank.org.In Monrovia: Michael Sahr, tel. (+231) 88 6514 321, msahr@worldbank.org

For more information about Projects in Liberia see Africa Projects

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Liberia.Additional Financing Electricity System Enhancement Project

Approval Date N/A.Closing Date N/A.Total Project Cost** 23.45.Region Africa.Major Sector (Sector) (%) Energy and mining (Thermal Power Generation) (90%)Energy and mining (General energy sector) (10%).Themes (%) Urban services and housing for the poor (100%).Environmental Category B.Bank Team Lead Missfeldt-Ringius, Fanny Kathinka.Borrower/Recipient REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.Implementing Agency LIBERIA ELECTRICITY CORPORATION LEC

Liberia. Additional Financing Electricity System Enhancement Project

World Bank.Document Date:2011/11/10.Document Type: Project Information Document.Report Number:AB6868.Volume No:1

Liberia.Additional Financing for the Liberia Electricity System Enhancement ProjectDocument Date: 2011/12/02.Document Type: Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet.Report Number:AC6597.Volume No: 1 of 1
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Liberia.Smallholder Tree Crop Revitalization Support Project

The objective of the Smallholder Tree Crop Revitalization Support Project for Liberia is to increase poor tree crop farmers' income opportunities by rehabilitating unproductive farms and supporting tree crop replanting and new planting and by supporting preparation activities toward the future development of the tree crop sector and effective smallholder participation. Negative measures include: water quality, air quality, soil erosion, waste management, pest management, fertilizer, ecology, and impact on natural habitat.

Mitigation measures include: a) locate water pump with surrounding bund to prevent petroleum leakage to water source; b) minimize use of chemical fertilizer and maximize use of organic mulch; c) minimize use of chemical fertilizer and maximize use of organic mulch by returning solid processing waste to fields; d) maximize the spreading of organic waste in plantations as substitute for inorganic plant nutrients; e) minimize removal of low ground cover during clearing; and f) establish new ground cover as quickly as possible windrow woody vegetation along the contour to act as barrier to down slope sheet erosion.

World Bank.Document Date:  2011/10/01.Document Type:  Environmental Assessment.Report Number:E2902.Volume No:  1 of 1

Liberia - Smallholder Tree Crop Revitalization Support Project : environmental assessmentv

Resettlement Plan

Liberia.Advance Agreement for Preparation of Proposed Smallholder Tree Crop

The Activities for which the Supplemental Advance is provided consist of the following parts: (a) Carrying out Project preparation activities, including: (i) supporting the establishment of the Project preparation team within the Recipient’s Ministry of Agriculture (MoA); (ii) preparing studies, assessments and manuals in connection with the Project (e.g., an environmental and social impact assessment and Project implementation manual); and (iii) building the capacity of the MoA (namely, the Project preparation team) through consultations with stakeholders and training/workshops in Monrovia and the project areas.(b) Carrying out Project implementation start-up activities, including: (i) setting-up the Project steering committee; (ii) building the capacity of counterpart staff through training; (iii) undertaking Project start-up procurement activities; and (iv) supporting the establishment of an administrative office for the Project (office furnishings, equipment and operating costs).October 25,2011.

Author:Pavluk,Jonathan David.Document Date:2011/10/25.Document Type:Agreement

Agreement for Supplemental Advance Q749-LR Conformed

Liberia's infrastructure

Liberia's power generating capacity and national grid were completely demolished during 14 years of civil war. Piped water access fell from 15 percent of the population in 1986 to less than 3 percent in 2008. War also left the national road network in a state of severe disrepair. Since the return of peace, the port of Monrovia has resumed normal operations under private management, and progress has been made in securing donor finance for road reconstruction.

Liberia has also successfully liberalized its mobile telephone markets, with low-priced access surging to 40 percent in 2009. Liberia's starkest challenge lies in funding a more cost-effective power sector. The country's generation capacity is barely one-tenth of the benchmark level of Africa's other low-income countries.

The cost of generating power is exorbitant, and the power tariff is three times the regional average. Addressing Liberia's public infrastructure needs will require sustained expenditures of between $350 million and $600 million annually, mostly to fund power and transport. In the mid-2000s, with all sources of spending taken into account, Liberia spent around $90 million a year on infrastructure.

An additional $17 million was lost to inefficiencies, such as underpricing of power. Because Liberia suffers an annual funding gap of between $250 million and $500 million per year, it will need a combination of increased finance, improved efficiency, and cost-reducing innovations to reach its infrastructure targets in a reasonable time. Without these, Liberians may have to wait for up to 40 years to achieve the targets.

Author:  Foster, Vivien ; Pushak, Nataliya. Document Date:  2011/03/01. Document Type:  Policy Research Working Paper. Report Number:  WPS5597. Volume No: 1 of 1

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