Donors’ coordination meeting in Freetown

The Management of TRANSCO CLSG, a regional transmission company responsible for the transmission of affordable and reliable electricity to millions of citizens in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea is holding a high-level Donors’ Coordination meeting in Freetown, Sierra Leone to discuss the progress and challenges in the implementation of the CLSG project.

The Annual meeting is being organized within the framework of the implementation of the CLSG interconnection project, to provide updates to stakeholders and will run from Tuesday, July 2nd to Wednesday, July 3rd, 2019.

Mr. Mohammed M. Sherif, the General Manager of TRANSCO CLSG is leading a high-profile delegation to the meeting from Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire where TRANSCO CLSG is headquartered. Accompanying him are the Directors of the Project Implementation Unit, Mr. Entienne Bailly and the Finance and Administration, Josephus Jigba Yilla. Other senior level officials of the company also form part of the delegation.

The World Bank (WB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the German Development Bank (KfW) are among the stakeholders attending the meeting.

Highlights of the meeting include the presentation and discussion on the Project Implementation Progress (Engineering +Acceleration Plan, ESMP & RAP), update on the Procurement and Contract Management, update of Equitable price adjustment, Change orders/Variation order, discussion on progress status on the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) recruitment and strategy for the financing of different contracts and update of the CLSG project commissioning Strategy. Also keyed for discussion is the status of the Coordination of the CLSG Project with the National Network Projects.

TRANSCO CLSG was created to carry out the CLSG interconnection project as reflected in the model agreed upon by the four Member States; that is to finance, construct, own, operate, develop and maintain an interconnection line between Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinée.

This project aims at promoting a regional energy market and optimize the use of energy resources in West Africa as a whole. It is one of the five priority projects of the West African Power Pool Master Plan that aims to build a 225kV high voltage line of 1,303 km to connect the electrical networks of the 4 countries.

The CLSG project is being financed by donors including the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank and the German Development Bank (KfW) through loans and grants at an approximate project cost of USD 476 million.