36 Staff to Undergo Capacity Building Training in Nigeria

36 Staff To Undergo Capacity Building Training In Nigeria

Monrovia, September 19, 2017 (Liberia Electricity Corporation):Thirty-Six (36) Employees of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) are to shortly benefit from a two week sponsored capacity building program in Lagos, Nigeria. The training is part of an initiative of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) to improve operational performances of individual WAPP member countries.

In 2009 the WAPP Secretariat obtained partial grant funding from the European Union to electrify 18 communities in Liberia from Cote-d’Ivoire and supervised the implementation of the project. WAPP was made to understand that once completed, the areas will require additional staff to operate and maintain the networks, and manage commercial activities. It is from this backdrop that WAPP developed a training program under its USAID Assistance Program to train these employees to commence operations.

The 36 employees will be trained in various disciplines ranging from Power Generation Operations and Maintenance, Power Transmission Network and Substation Operations and Maintenance, Power Distribution Network Design Maintenance and Repairs, Power Distribution Network Design and Operations, Power System Planning and Environmental Safeguard Guidance and Power System Commercialization (Metering, Sale, Invoicing, Collection, Client Management, etc.).

Speaking during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Tuesday, September 19 in Monrovia, WAPP Coordinator for Capacity Building, Mamadou Alpha-Sylla stressed the importance of developing a strategic framework to sharpen the technical skills of WAPP members in the electricity sector.

“The Liberia electricity sector is not thinking about rehabilitation anymore, but we are talking about growing the network. It is very important for the LEC to focus on capacity building to have an efficient utility”. Mr. Sylla Said.

Acting Managing Director Thomas Gonkerwon expressed gratitude for the cordial relationship between the West African Power Pool (WAPP) and the LEC, and thanked the WAPP for providing training opportunities for employees of the LEC.

“Staff training is very paramount to our operations and it is the highest asset any institution can provide its employees. This journey promises to be a long one for Liberia. We are grateful to WAPP for providing training opportunities for our staff,” Mr. Gonkerwon said.

Deputy Managing Director for Rural Electrification and Projects, Zahnga Peabody welcomed the development and thanked the USAID through WAPP for providing such a platform, which will greatly add value to the corporation’s manpower.

“This initiative will not only add value to our staff but also help improve and strengthen our overall operations. We strongly believe that this initiative is going to help a long way in addressing some of our challenges,” Mr. Peabody noted.

The LEC has provided training opportunities for several of its staff throughout 2017. Recently, two employees returned from Lagos, Nigeria where they participated in an Auditing and Risk Management training. Two employees also returned from Lome, Togo where they gained expertise in managing a WordPress website and managing and uploading content.