Liberia's Electricity Access Rises to 39 Percent, Government Says
Liberian and international officials at the December 2016 commissioning of the first turbine at the Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant, the backbone of Liberia's national grid (file photo, illustrative, not of this week's announcement). Photo: U.S. Embassy Monrovia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Deputy Information Minister Daniel Sanoe says national electricity access has climbed from 32% to 39%, even as roughly six in ten Liberians remain without power, particularly in rural areas beyond Monrovia.
Liberia's national electricity access rate has reached 39 percent, up from 32 percent previously, Deputy Information Minister Daniel Sanoe told a Ministry of Information press briefing on September 22, 2026, as part of a government review of progress under the National Development Plan, according to The New Dawn Liberia.
A separate fact-check by Local Voices Liberia examined a closely related claim by Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) Managing Director Mohammed Sherif, who put the increase at "about 32 percent to 38 percent nationwide." Fact-checkers rated that claim "Mostly Correct," noting World Bank data showed roughly 32.7 percent access at the end of 2024, and that an estimated 376,000 additional people, about 7 percent of the population, gained access during 2025 — a trajectory consistent with the government's figures, even though the most recent numbers are a government estimate not yet reflected in official World Bank data.
The Liberia Electricity Corporation recently completed a two-day technical assessment in Lofa and Grand Cape Mount counties to evaluate the feasibility of expanding the grid there, examining potential beneficiary sites such as hospitals, government facilities and businesses, and consulting community and youth leaders, The New Dawn Liberia reported.
Despite the improvement, an estimated 61 percent of Liberians still lack electricity access, with the gap concentrated in rural communities outside the country's main population centers. Officials have not published specific targets or a timeline for closing that gap, saying only that expansion to additional counties and communities will continue as part of the broader national energy program.