U.S. Position on the World Bank’s Investment Liberia-West African Power Pool (WAPP) -

Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea

(CLSG) Power Interconnection Project and West African Power Pool- Integration and

Technical Assistance Project (APL I)

May 31, 2012

This project offers a unique developmental opportunity to a group of West African countries. As the 

Bank has noted, this is the first time that a grant is directly extended to the West African Power Pool 

(WAPP), which sends a strong signal of the Bank's commitment to regional integration as a way to 

promote economic growth and development in Africa. The Bank, and its co-financing partners, the 

WAPP and especially the governments of Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea should 

maintain their commitment over the long term to make this highly challenging project a success.

The U.S. government strongly believes that regional integration is essential to Africa's economic

development. By leveraging the costs of large-scale electricity production across several markets, 

projects such as this make electricity generation affordable to the firms and individuals who will 

drive the region's economic growth. However, such projects are also a challenge in implementation 

because of the coordination that is required across multiple countries.

The most innovative aspects of this project involve the partnership between Bank staff and the 

WAPP to establish the Regional Transmission Company (RTC), and between the RTC and country 

governments on the transmission and payment. The Bank staff, the WAPP and participating 

governments have come together to agree to a legal arrangement that commits the parties to a 

regional energy partnership.

The involvement of other donors including the AfDB, EIB and KfW – is also a welcome help to 

finance the ambitious scope of this project. Given the high cost of infrastructure development,

the United States recognizes the efforts of these donors for working toward this common goal. The 

United States encourages all donors to adhere to the same high standards for project implementation.

Several conditions for effectiveness of the project and the timeline for meeting these conditions are 

due by the end of 2012. The United States urges the Bank, co-financiers and country governments 

to remain committed to this schedule. Moreover, the United States urges the member governments to 

maintain their financial commitments to the RTC and to settle payments for use of the transmission 

line in a timely manner. Maintaining the economic viability of RTC is crucial to increasing access to 

electricity in the region. Moving toward more cost reflective tariffs at the national level can also help 

mitigate some of the project's financial risk and contribute to its long term sustainability.

The success of this project would also send a strong message to donors as well as the private sector 

about the viability of regional infrastructure development in Africa. So important is this project as a 

potential precursor to future investments in regional infrastructure that the Bank management should 

keep the Board apprised of any significant slippages in project timelines as well as any significant 

payment issues that could threaten the project's viability over the course of its implementation.

On the environmental front, the United States would have strongly preferred to see OP4.01 be fully 

implemented. However, the United States can accept the request for a waiver of the one provision in 

this case, provided that it is not seen as a precedent. There also could have been more analysis on

induced impacts from the project. The United States requests that the Board be apprised of any 

challenges that the project encounters with resettlement or environmental mitigation measures.