After 100 days into his administration, President Joseph Nyumah Boakai has attracted his most significant infrastructure project so far. The 42 million euros intended to electrify three major county capital cities is a breakthrough for the Boakai’s administration. This is coming at a time when the entire country is facing a serious energy crisis.
On Friday, May 3, 2024, the European Union (EU) and the Government of Liberia broke ground for the Rural Electrification Program which prioritizes lighting up major cities in the Southeastern part of Liberia. The project which is intended to construct two separate 33kv electricity generation and distribution networks/facilities in Greenville and Buchanan will benefit over 16,000 households in both counties.
According to the European Union, twelve thousand fifty-four (12,054) customers or households will be connected on both single and three-phase pre-paid meters in the city of Buchanan as the city itself benefits from the installation of an estimated eight hundred twenty-five (825) led streetlights.
In the city of Greenville, four thousand three hundred and forty-four (4,344) households are poised to be connected according to the EU.
“Additionally, along the forty-three (43) kilometer route of said transmission line from the two (2) megawatts, a Mini Hydro Power Plant will be constructed on the Sinoe River, while about two hundred (200) led streetlights will be installed in that Southeastern city,” the EU said in an official statement during the groundbreaking ceremony.
The latest EU-GOL project demonstrates the European Union’s willingness and readiness to foster a more genuine partnership with the Government of Liberia in infrastructure development, especially energy generation and distribution. Some political pundits wonder why Boakai would prioritize Greenville, Barclay, and Buchanan even though they massively voted against him in the 2023 presidential election.
Why not Nimba, Margibi, Lofa, Cape Mount, Gbarpolu, or Bomi as some pundits expressed curiosity to know? The action of President Boakai to electrify the three Southeastern cities, including where the former president comes from, shows responsible, visionary, and selfless leadership even though he had the power to divert such a huge project to his political base. It is echoed in some quarters that if Boakai could secure a similar electrification project for the Western region and the Northcentral region, he could go down in history as an energy czar in post-conflict Liberia.
With the electrification of Buchanan, Greenville, and Barclayville serving as key commercial hubs in the Southeast, the living standard in that region is expected to improve as economic activities boom along that corridor due to access to stable and affordable electricity.
