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Canadian foundation to invest US$10Million in Liberia


   Posted May 22, 2009

A Swiss based foundation, established by two Canadians: John and Marcy McCall MacBain has committed ten million US dollars in grants to Liberia. The Foundation established to improve the welfare of humanity through focused grants in health, education and environment, has been involved in the three sectors in Liberia since June 2007. One of the founders of the Foundation, John McCall MacBain who has been visiting Liberia disclosed that his foundation has worked with fourteen projects through Government Ministries and Agencies as well as NGOs, operating in line with the goals of government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, otherwise known as “Lift Liberia”. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Medecins du Monde, Right to Play, Monrovia Transit Authority and Alfalit Adult Literacy Program are among grantees of the McCall MacBain Foundation. To date, Mr. MacBain puts the grants already provided to institutions at US $5.3 million. 

Liberia was selected from among four countries including: Rwanda, Ghana and Uganda as the first and only country to receive grant from the Foundation.  “Firstly, we felt that the need was very great, the second reason was there were very few donors here and thirdly the excellent leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf whom I met in Davos,” Mr. MacBain said,  narrating the criteria for choosing Liberia to receive grant from the newly established Foundation.  

 MacBain spoke of the acute post conflict situation of Liberia at the time and his foundation’s conviction that unlike other countries, Liberia had the potential to demonstrate change. Two years on, Mr. MacBain, in an apparent excited mood, spoke of the positive changes in Liberia, some of which he believes his Foundation helped impact especially in the health sector and job creation. He however acknowledged there are still challenges but believes, big changes would be seen by 2011.  

At the same time, the McCall MacBain Foundation is investing in Liberia in the energy sector through the Buchanan Renewable Company, which is currently operating in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. The company is buying old rubber farms and shipping chips for sale in Europe. The company is also assisting in the replanting of rubber trees.  

BRE’s  latest venture involves an agreement to establish a biomass power plant in Margibi to produce 35 megawatt of power to Monrovia. The power supply according to Mr. MacBain will be a 24-7 electricity project at an affordable price. The Canadian millionaire, with high optimism disclosed the project is on schedule. “ We’ll be ordering equipment in the next forty five days, they will start clearing the site this summer, the plant will be ready between Jan and March in 2011- producing 35 mega watt of power from Kakata, we already have a site there - 150 acres of land, we are fully financed and moving full speed ahead, he revealed.   

 MacBain believes the company will bring great relief to Liberians in all parts of the country and bring in more investments. The company is expected to increase the power supply to seventy (70) percent over a period of time and has a timeline to turn over the plants to government.  

In a recent interaction with reporters in Monrovia, Mr. MacBain said the global financial crisis has not had much of an impact on his company.  “In this global financial crisis, Liberia is a great place to invest when you are not in commodity,” he maintained, noting that Buchanan Renewable is not into commodity, but using local products for power production for local consumption, a factor that is greatly helped the company during this global financial crisis. Mr. MacBain believes with electricity, more investors will come into Liberia. The Canadian millionaire said he is serving as an ambassador for Liberia spoke on continuing discussions to attract more investors to Liberia. 

On the rehabilitation of the Hydro, which has the potential to pose competition to BR’s biomass power production project, Mr. MacBain said he supports the rehabilitation of the



Mr. John McCall MacBain


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Hydro but said it takes a lot of capital and time. He said the biomass power production is quicker, relatively inexpensive and right for Liberia at this time. He envisions producing 35-megawatts of power, increasing it to 70 megawatts before going into the Hydro rehabilitation. At the same time, Mr. MacBain said his company has no need to worry even if the Hydro is rehabilitated during the biomass power production project, as every country needs multiple sources of power. He believes, the both sources will serve more people and create an option when it comes to prices and hours of operations. “  Before the war, Monrovia alone had 192 megawatts for 400,000 people, now you have 1.5 million people and 7-megawatts, and you’re going to have 35-megawatt, then 70 megawatt, so you need another 120 megawatt, we need 200 megawatt from the Hydro and they will all accumulate together, that’s great,” MacBain maintained.  

The man, whose foundation funded the purchase and shipment of a fleet of buses for the Monrovia Transit Authority, wants Liberians to see the Buchanan Renewable, previously, “Buchanan Renewable Energy,” as an entity that is here to help the country because of its belief in the present leadership and the potential Liberia offers. Whatever money raised by BR, he said will go to the McCall MacBain Foundation and be granted to Liberia in the areas of health, education and environment.  “Our Foundation is in the country to help Liberia. What he get in return  is the satisfaction that the lives of people have been made better through creation of jobs and other social components of the contract,” emphasizing that Buchanan Renewables wants no special preference from Government, but will  continue to invest in the Country.

 

 

 

 

 

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