CLSG project a winner – says Minister Jusu Saffa

Freetown, Sierra Leone, January 4, 2019: Stable and secure electricity is an imperative for national governments, both for basic household needs and for industrial progress and overall economic growth, the Minister of Finance of Sierra Leone has said.

Minister Jacob Jusu Saffa told the visiting General Manager of TRANSCO CLSG, Mohammed M. Sherif during a courtesy call on his Freetown office on Thursday, January 3, 2019 that the CLSG interconnection brings enormous optimism to Sierra Leone’s quest to become a powerhouse in the energy sector.

The CLSG project is a winner,” he declared, pointing to the CLSG project line route map during a discussion with the General Manager of TRANSCO CLSG. The outspoken Minister of Finance was thrilled following a briefing by the TRANSCO CLSG General Manager on the economic and other benefits associated with the CLSG project.

Minister Saffa said the government of Sierra Leone is making sure major Districts in Sierra Leone are provided electricity, adding that the CLSG transmission line is going to provide that accessibility to link the entire country.

The Minister underscored the importance of electricity as a fundamental input in the modern world. He said the government of Sierra Leone is going to invest more into the sector to ensure the delivery of stable and affordable electricity to the people of Sierra Leone. “Energy security is an increasingly important consideration for us (Sierra Leoneans),” he said.

Minister Saffa said the government will be holding a Roundtable conference on energy in Freetown shortly as he extended an invitation to the General Manager of TRANSCO CLSG to attend and present the economics and other social economic benefits of the CLSG project.

Earlier, the General Manager of TRANSCO CLSG, Mr. Sherif briefed the Minister on the progress of the CLSG project implementation across the four beneficiary countries including Sierra Leone. He also used the occasion to thank the government of Sierra Leone for its unwavering supports to the implementation of the project.

Mr. Sherif emphasized that electricity constitutes the critical infrastructure of any nations including Sierra Leone and that the CLSG project will provide the much-needed relief. He told Minister Saffa that the CLSG project brings along with it a sense of national security and public safety as schools and health centers as well as homes, etc would be connected.

“Electricity is one of the basic needs that governments must provide to its people and we are here to ensure that happens,” the General Manager assured.

Earlier, the General Manager paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Energy, Hon. Kanja Sesay, who also reaffirmed his country’s unwavering commitment to the CLSG project. Minister Sesay disclosed that Sierra Leoneans are eagerly awaiting the coming of the CLSG interconnection line to boost more economic activities across the country. He said his ministry along with other key government entities will work relentlessly to ensuring that the CLSG project is implemented unimpeded.