The Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Account Sierra Leone (MCA-SL), Nyede Sesay, has outlined the scope, implementation plans, timelines and outstanding requirements for Sierra Leone’s $480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Energy Compact, informing Parliament that the programme remains in its preparatory phase ahead of full implementation.
Nyede Sesay made the disclosure on Tuesday, 15 September 2026, during an oversight engagement with the Parliamentary Committee on Energy in Committee Room One.
During the meeting, she presented details of the three major projects under the compact, the conditions that must be fulfilled before implementation, procurement requirements and potential risks that could affect the programme’s timetable.
She explained that although the Energy Compact was signed in September 2024, it has not yet entered its full implementation phase.
“I can’t come with contractors because we’re not in the implementation phase. We’re in what we call the pre-Entry Into Force,” Nyede Sesay told the Committee.
According to the MCA-SL CEO, the pre-Entry Into Force period is expected to run from February 2026 to September 2027. The period will focus on feasibility studies, detailed engineering designs, recruitment, procurement of consultants and fulfilment of the Conditions Precedent required for the compact to become effective.
The five-year implementation period is expected to begin in September 2027 and continue through September 2032.
Nyede Sesay stressed that the preparatory phase is critical, noting that delays in completing studies, engineering designs, procurement and other requirements could place pressure on the five-year implementation window.
She said the Energy Compact comprises three major projects designed to address longstanding challenges in Sierra Leone’s electricity sector.
The first project focuses on strengthening the country’s transmission network and national energy backbone. It includes approximately 244 kilometres of 225-kilovolt transmission lines connecting Newton, Bo, Kenema and Potoru, as well as four new substations at Newton, Moriba Town, Moyamba and Potoru.
The project will also provide two electricity dispatch centres, with the main centre planned for Newton and a backup facility at Kingtom.
According to Nyede Sesay, the dispatch system is expected to introduce merit-order dispatch and improve the management and reliability of electricity supply.
The transmission component will further upgrade sections of the existing 161-kilovolt network and introduce fibre-optic infrastructure to strengthen communication and digitalization within the electricity system.
New substations are also planned for Makeni and Lunsar.
Nyede Sesay said the Makeni intervention is expected to help address electricity delivery constraints associated with the Bumbuna generation system.
The presentation provided Parliament’s Energy Committee with an overview of the compact’s current preparatory status and the infrastructure planned under the programme as Sierra Leone works towards the commencement of full implementation in September 2027.
