Monrovia, Liberia, April 19, 2010
–IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has announced that Liberia has selected Canada’s Manitoba Hydro International (MHI) Ltd. for a five-year management contract to help rebuild and improve electricity services in Monrovia and to connect at least 30,000 new customers in the city.
IFC’s Advisory Services in Infrastructure group acted as principal advisor to Liberia’s government for the design of the contract and implementation of an international, competitive bidding process to select a partner to work with the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), the public entity responsible for supplying electricity in Monrovia. NTE of Norway and Siemens of Germany also submitted proposals for the LEC contract.
Liberia’s Minister of Lands, Mines, and Energy, Eugene Shannon, said, “On behalf of the Liberian Government, I would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Norwegian government in particular and the other donors for their support to the LEC Management Contract. We believe that the partnership with MHI will transform LEC into a better performing and sustainable utility through an effective capacity building program and the reconstruction of basic infrastructure to grant access to power to large parts of Monrovia’s population.”
IFC Resident Representative in Liberia, Jumoke Jagun-Dokunmu, said, “We are proud to have served as principal advisor to Liberia’s government and donors for the international tendering process and for helping design a management contract to attract a qualified operator that will rebuild LEC and extend electricity services in a country working hard to recover from conflict.”
Under a five-year contract beginning July 1, 2010, MHI will help improve LEC’s operational and financial performance. Backed by about US$50 million in donor funds, MHI will also help rebuild Monrovia’s electricity system and significantly expand access to electricity in the city.
Funds for the reconstruction and expansion of the system are being provided by Norway’s government, USAID, and The World Bank.
Liberia’s long-running civil war, which ended in 2003, destroyed most of the country’s electricity infrastructure. In 2009, Liberia and its donor partners engaged IFC to help attract a qualified, international utility operator to improve electricity services in Monrovia.
IFC was supported in this process by consultants from Norton Rose, NETGroup, Sherman & Sherman and COWI. These consultants were funded by DevCo, a multi-donor trust fund, supported by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), Sweden’s International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), and Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco).
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial crisis. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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