Hydro brings light and hope to Sierra Leone
It hasn’t yet reached Ali Lamie’s small store, which flashes with
colours as he charges cellphones by the rack. But after more than 30
years, Bumbuna hydroelectric dam is bringing power and economic hope to
Sierra Leone.
Key sections of the capital Freetown were lit up this month when
President Ernest Bai Koroma switched on the final test of the project at
the Kingtom power station, named after the local king who let freed
black slaves settle the area in 1787.
Coming in the same month as a large oil find off the coast of this
impoverished West African country and amid rising investor interest in
its potentially huge iron ore deposits, the dam’s power will be
material.
“This is a huge saving for the country because they don’t have to
import fuel anymore and it will mean the economy and industry can
expand,” said Engilbert Gudmundsson of the World Bank, a backer of the
dam which has cost over $200 million. Reuters |