(Ecofin Agency) - The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has granted Liberia $23.25 million to develop its renewable energy sub-sector. The facility will be used to develop a 9.8 MW hydropower plant at the Gbedin falls, on the Mano River, in Nimba County.

The provision of the fund falls under the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program, a program of CIF which aims to support the growth of developing countries by developing renewables.

"Liberia has one of the lowest electricity access rates in the world with less than 2% of households having access to electricity services nationwide and therefore expanding access to electricity is not only vital but should be one of the country's topmost priorities", said Leandro Azevedo, AfDB's CIF Coordinator and Senior Climate Change Officer.

According to CIF, the financing will enable Liberia direct its clean energy more towards economic sectors which have been hard hit by the Ebola outbreak in 2014.

Gwladys Johnson