The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US state development fund, has extended a $480-million five-year grant to Sierra Leone to provide reliable and affordable electricity to 4.6 million people, the fund said.
Only about 30 per cent of the West African country's population has access to electricity, dropping to less than 5 per cent of people in rural areas.
The deal includes three projects to improve the coverage and reliability of the power network and boost the sector's sustainability, the fund said in a statement.
In April, Sierra Leone's energy minister resigned over a weeks-long electricity crisis linked to tens of millions of dollars in unpaid debt to energy providers. --Reuters