LEC Financial Picture
LEC has 18 bank accounts with the following total end-of-November balances:
Total LRD account balance LR$93.2m
Total USD account Balance is US$9.764m
Of the total USD account balance, only US$728,000 is the balance in project accounts.
Debt obligations:
CI-Energies/ CLSG electricity = US$13m
Regulatory Levy = US$537,544
Total GoL appropriation for LEC for FY 2023 was US$46.0m out of which only US$8.96m was disbursed. GoL arrears to LEC for energy consumed in 2023 is US$4.2m by ministries and agencies.
Sources of LEC’s revenue, including donations and grants: Electricity sales to customers, Government of Liberia, World Bank, African Development Bank, USAID, KFW.
For a company in which taxpayers have invested more than a billion dollars since 2006, LEC should be paying dividends today to its shareholders – Liberians – through the budget instead of taking away from them. That money could go to support our lousy healthcare and education sectors. No sector is working well to meet the needs of our people in our country!
President Boakai should consider a new Board and management with a strong mandate to bring the private sector into the distribution of electricity to improve efficiency. This is what Cote d’Ivoire has done, and it’s working. Cote d’Ivoire’s energy sector is one of the most stable in the entire ECOWAS region and one of the main factors behind its economic miracles under President Ouattara. The private sector is best suited for distribution functions such as metering, prompt response to customer complaints and resolution, billing, and collection, among others.
We reject mediocrity at our public entities. We will be a strong voice for excellence and good governance practices. Change means change! And change is what Liberians voted for.
