09/16/2025
**The Electricity Crisis and Sierra Leone's Mounting Debts**
The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has reportedly committed over $600 million to the Maada Bio administration for the development, construction, and operation of a 105 MW combined cycle thermal power plant, along with its related infrastructure, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This power plant project was intended to address the electricity crisis in Freetown and its surrounding communities. However, despite these significant funding commitments, construction has yet to begin four years later.
According to project documents and corporate financial records obtained by the Africanist Press, the DFC awarded these funds in multiple tranches between fiscal years 2021 and 2024, during the Biden-Harris administration. The first disbursement of $217 million occurred in 2021 under Project ID 9000093682. In 2022, the DFC provided an additional $50 million in political risk insurance (Project ID 9000104835). Furthermore, in 2024, an extra $292 million (Project ID 9000116894) was allocated for the power plant project, along with $120 million (Project ID 9000116916) designated for additional political risk insurance. In total, at least $679 million has been committed over these four years to fund the construction of the power plant, yet no construction has taken place in Sierra Leone.
The funding provided by the DFC for the Freetown Power Plant includes the following allocations:
- In 2021, DFC allocated $217 million for the construction of a power generation plant with a capacity of approximately 87 MW and associated infrastructure in Freetown, Sierra Leone, under Project ID 9000093682.
- In 2022, under Project ID 9000104835, DFC provided $50 million for political risk insurance to support the construction of an 83.5 MW CCGT LPG/LNG power plant. DFC documents indicate that this project is the first land-based gas-fired power plant in the region and is expected to effectively double the existing power generation capacity.
- In 2024, under Project ID 9000116894, DFC committed another $292 million to finance the construction of a power plant with a capacity of up to 105 MW and associated infrastructure in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
- Additionally, under Project ID 9000116916 in 2024, DFC provided $120 million as extra political risk insurance coverage for the Freetown power plant to address funding gaps resulting from increased project costs.
This brings the total funding for the Freetown power plant project to $679 million over four years.
In addition to the Freetown Power Plant Project, other DFC-funded projects in Sierra Leone between 2023 and 2024 include:
- In 2023, under Project ID 9000105360, DFC allocated $150 million to Summa Group for the expansion, refurbishment, and operation of Lungi International Airport in Freetown.
- In 2023, under Project ID 9000115886, DFC made equity investments totaling $24 million for Miro Forestry Developments Limited to expand the company's operations in Ghana and Sierra Leone.
- In 2024, under Project ID 9000115762, DFC disbursed $10 million to West Africa Blue to develop a blue carbon project in the Sherbro River Estuary region of Sierra Leone.
The pressing questions remain: Where are the funds, and why hasn't the power plant been constructed, especially since its completion was slated for 2023?
Stay tuned to for more detailed analysis of this and other energy-related projects.
