Mano River Union (MRU) Secretary General, Ambassador Maria G Harrison told Sierra Leone’s Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay that the Union is committed to forging a constructive and excellent partnership with the Ministry of Energy.

The partnership is to scale up energy access in Sierra Leone and rolling out a couple of groundbreaking initiatives in the sector.

Ambassador Harrison speaking during a courtesy call on the Minister, said she had visited the Minister in order to introduce herself as the new Secretary General of the MRU, have a firsthand assessment and understanding of the activities of the energy sector, and further examine the status of existing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between the Union and the Ministry. She said the Ministry of Energy should always consider the MRU as a reliable partner in the development of the country’s energy sector, adding that the Union was now exploring ways of rolling out a couple of MoUs it had signed with the Ministry.

In response, Energy Minister, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Ambassador for the courtesy visit. He introduced strategic members of his Ministry and explained the core mandate of the Ministry of Energy.

Mr. Sesay said that access to energy in the country was at an impressive rate, noting that the New Direction government had taken the access rate from a dismal 16% in 2018 to a staggering 35% in 2023. The Minister of Energy informed Ambassador Harrison that he had engaged in discussions with her predecessor on how to partner and improve the energy situation in the country,adding that he was looking forward to having a more constructive and productive partnership with her in planning for the next five years.

“The energy sector is in search of opportunities to improve on the electricity supply and access rate in the country. As a country, we are now gradually but inexorably moving towards renewable sources ofenergy,” the Minister said, while also noting that the energy sector had held several engagements with private partners.

He concluded by briefing the Ambassador on the country’s sources of generation of energy.