Executive Chairman, Brima Baluwa Koroma
At a two-day conference held at this year’s Dakar Expo, on Promoting Liquefied Petroleum Gas as Clean Energy in West Africa, the Executive Chairman of the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA), marketed and appealed for Strategic Partnership and collaboration to ensure that the adoption and penetration of Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are increased in Sierra Leone and West Africa.
During his keynote presentation at this year’s Dakar Expo, the Executive Chairman, Brima Baluwa Koroma, underscored the Government’s commitment to increase energy access with reliable and cleaner energy sources, highlighting the recent gains of His Excellency President Brigadier (Rtd.) Julius Maada Bio achieved this year in the energy sector, with the launch of a $412 million energy project for 126.7-MW electricity with West Africa LNG and a combined cycle power plant project in Freetown.
He emphasized the ongoing government initiatives, including awareness-raising campaigns, deforestation reduction strategies and investment potentials in the LPG sector. Though Sierra Leone currently exports 600mt LPG to Liberia and Guinea annually, Market penetration is still less than 12% in Sierra Leone.
Chairman Baluwa Koroma passionately reiterated the Agency’s collaborative efforts to increase awareness level and consumption of LPG with various Ministries, Departments and Agencies in Sierra Leone through various platforms (Social Media, Print, Electronic Media and Community Engagement) to ensure that every Sierra Leonean has access to LPG; noting that the Agency and the Ministry of Energy and ECOWAS recently participated in the LPG Standard Validation workshop held in Freetown in 2023.
“The Petroleum Agency has met with International Finance Corporation (IFC) officials to discuss the need for more investments in the LPG Sector to boost penetration and reduce the cost of cylinders for consumers, and I’m here again on this enviable LPG’s energy platform, to re-affirm our Government’s policies to increasing adoption of LPG to not only showcase our reforms and gains so far in boosting the LPG to the world, but to lure potential investors to see Sierra Leone as an investment-friendly country, with attractive opportunities and incentives for investment growth,“ the PRA Boss noted. The Executive Chairman on his quest to lure more investors who are tremendously impacting other LPG Sectors in some African Countries, held detailed bilateral engagements with renowned international companies that are interested in investing in Sierra Leone’s Downstream Petroleum Industry, including BEENERGY, GazPro FZC, Trident Gas & Oil Engineering.
