To the untrained eye of a layman, the workers were proceeding slowly, much too slowly. A foreman’s shrill voice could be heard shouting instructions after instructions as engineers and technicians, with the help of cranes and robotic arms, delicately guided a large piece of equipment into an even larger shaft.
The workers were right to proceed as gingerly as they were; they were installing the first of four turbines (estimated to cost US$5M apiece) at the Mount Coffee Hydro Power Plant.
The cost aside, fabrication of these key pieces of the Mount Coffee jigsaw took many months in Germany and any mishap would mean doom for the scheduled December 2016 commission date.
Damaged during the civil war, rehabilitation of the Mount Coffee plant is the mainstay of the government’s strategy to increase power production from zero to 128 megawatts by 2017. Already, three HFO plants are operational generating 38 megawatts of power including a new 10 megawatts plant which came online last July.
Also, Liberia is participating in the West Africa Power Pool program which will make available additional power from Côte d’Ivoire. Described as the most critical binding constraint to economic expansion, lack of reliable power has long stunted growth.
The current power rollout will be able to sustain the needs of homes and businesses in the short and medium term with additional options for more power as the country continues its diversification away from primary commodities into agro-processing and manufacturing. Already steady and reliable power is impacting the lives of ordinary Liberians, particularly entrepreneurs running Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
A local barber, Patrick Sarmu who previously relied on a small gasoline powered generator to run his business, summed it up aptly, “Right now I brought in two assistants because we can now work day and night, not only six hours like before, and it’s cheaper.”
More connections to hundreds of households in communities in the capital Monrovia and towns like Ganta in the north (Ganta is connected to the cross-border power line from Côte d’Ivoire) are spurring economic activity and breathing life into these areas.
Away from Mount Coffee, about a hundred miles eastward along the coast, another group of engineers, clad in Ninja-like diving gear are bobbling about seemingly aimlessly in the Atlantic. A skiff with buoys, welding equipment and blinking beacons is the staging post. These are marine engineers installing navigational aids at the Port of Buchanan enabling it to now become a 24-hour port of call.
Liberia’s second largest port, Buchanan is critical as it handles major exports. The expansion and redevelopment of the Ports of Buchanan and Greenville, further along the coast in the southeast of Liberia allows for a move away from over-reliance on the export of iron ore, rubber and timber to cater to agricultural exports including palm oil.
Dubbed ‘The Gateway to the Economy,’ Liberia’s main port in Monrovia has itself been undergoing steady improvements over the past several years. Under the Administrative supervision of the National Port Authority of Liberia, the Dutch group, APM Terminals operates the port. Upgrades, the installation of modern, state of the art equipment and technology have transformed the once derelict, crumbling port to a 24-hour A-Level outfit catering to a brisk upsurge in trade and commerce.
Like power, a good road network is an enabling, catalytic infrastructure which drives economic activity and improves lives and livelihoods. Lack of roads in many parts of Liberia to connect cities and communities has also proven to be a great constraint and contributor to high poverty rates.
One would appreciate the unbridled celebration of the people of Barrakeh, a sleepy hamlet in Maryland County in southeastern Liberia. A historic event was about to take place right before their eyes. Barrakeh is actually closer to the Ivorian border then to Harper, the provincial capital of Maryland County.
The town holds great potential for transnational trade. Work on the Harper–Fish Town highway had begun, and for the first time, a paved road would be connecting towns and villages in the southeastern region of Liberia.
Funded by the African Development Bank and the government of Liberia, the project will link the coast with the interior of the country and create opportunity for increased commerce and trade. Access to health and educational facilities in the region will also be enhanced.
Since its inception in 2006, the administration has paved a total of 611km of roads and is on track to pave an additional 100km by 2017.
Because road infrastructure requires a massive capital investment, the government has proceeded wisely by targeting key economic corridors in its road pavement agenda – Monrovia to Buchanan, Monrovia to Gbarnga, Gbarnga to Ganta and on to the border with Guinea etc.
These roads are changing lives. Kollie Sackie, a vegetable farmer from the central town of Jennipleta now has increased earnings because with the newly paved road, he exercises the option to take his produce into Monrovia for better prices. “Every Saturday, I take the goods to Monrovia, fares are cheaper and the supermarkets in Monrovia pay better,” Sackie said.
The development mosaic is not yet a complete picture and still requires more intricate weaving, but steady progress is taking place in various sectors of the Liberian economy. Boosted by restored and rehabilitated infrastructure, a thriving, burgeoning SME sector of Liberian entrepreneurs has emerged holding the key for growth.
Already, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has initiated actions to bring the informal sector into the mainstream of the economy and recalculate the GDP of the country.
Under the leadership of President Sirleaf, Liberia’s resurgent growth remains on track. The twin malaise of the ebola epidemic and the steep decline in export of Liberia’s main commodities presented formidable hurdles, but a resilient nation is proving that fortitude and dogged perseverance are indelibly ingrained and entrenched in the fabric of Liberia’s character.
Eugene Nagbe – Liberia’s Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism