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Minister of Energy, Cyril Arnold Grant has revealed that Sierra Leone’s energy sector is currently grappling with a staggering debt burden of nearly $100 million.
During a recent appearance on AYV’s Wake Up Sierra Leone, Grant disclosed that approximately $50 million of this debt is owed solely to Karpowership, the Turkish energy company that provides a significant portion of Freetown’s electricity.
However, the Minister emphasized that the financial crisis extends well beyond a single supplier.
“It is not only Karpowership that we are owing,” Grant said. “We also owe money close to $20 million to another foreign power supplier [CI Energies of Ivory Coast]. Again, we owe money to some solar companies supplying us power and we also owe some money to Guinea for electricity.”
According to Grant, the cumulative debt to these various international and local entities stands at “close to $100 million.”
While acknowledging the massive arrears, the Minister identified the root cause of the crisis as systemic “losses”—a diplomatic term he clarified refers largely to electricity theft and illegal connections by citizens and businesses.
Grant explained that despite previous tariff increases approved by regulators to account for technical losses, the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) continues to lose nearly 50% of the power it generates due to non-payment and tampering.
“We need to create a more efficient revenue collection and distribution system where there are no losses,” Grant explained. “When I say losses, it sounds as if you have a pipe and it is leaking electricity. No. You have a pipe and Sierra Leoneans are stealing electricity.”
The Minister did not mince words, describing those bypassing meters as “unpatriotic,” noting that the theft is not limited to the poor but extends to businesses and households running multiple air conditioners without paying their fair share.
Minister Grant stated that his leadership is now prioritizing governance reforms at EDSA to stop the financial bleeding. He admitted that the government alone cannot shoulder the burden of revitalizing the sector.
“Sierra Leone is in the course of entering into solutions in addressing its energy crises, but there is room for more improvements,” Grant said. “Government alone cannot do it; we need the private sector to come and invest because energy is development.”
The Ministry aims to offset these debts by overhauling revenue collection and cracking down on the illegal abstraction of electricity that has left the sector in a precarious financial position.
