Sugarcane Bioethanol Project in Sierra Leone Underscores the Challenge of Bringing Energy to the Developing World
West Africa may be one of the most difficult and dangerous regions of the world in which to work, posing challenges that can prove deadly for project developers and their stakeholders. An ambitious bioenergy project in Sierra Leone highlights the sometimes-blurry line that separates development that is sustainable from that which is exploitative, as well as the numerous challenges faced when undertaking projects in poorly developed communities and countries.
As a Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) research team reports, a series of events — unexpected and anticipated — have taken their toll in terms of costs, revenues and the project development schedule of Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone’s (ABSL) Makeni project.
As the SEI research team recounts in Agricultural investment and rural transformation: a case study of the Makeni bioenergy project in Sierra Leone, the Ebola outbreak in May 2014 took a terrible toll on the nation and the Makeni project, increasing costs, delaying development and driving it to the edge of viability.
