Monrovia, Liberia – Liberia is expected to receive a portion of a $50 billion investment to improve electricity access after successfully presenting its Energy Compact case at the Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Speaking at the Robert International Airport on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, after arriving from Tanzania, President Joseph N. Boakai announced that Liberia, along with 15 other African nations, was chosen to be a part of the first cohort of Mission 300, an initiative that aims to provide electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030.
According to President Boakai, only 33 percent of Liberians have access to energy.
He emphasized the need of increasing energy access as a social obligation and national imperative.
The President also presented Liberia’s aggressive ambition to electrify 100,000 households a year, with a 75% access rate by 2030, while addressing the gaps between urban and rural areas through distributed renewable energy solutions and system development.
The construction of the 150 MW Saint Paul 2 Hydropower Project, encouragement of utility-scale solar PV projects financed by private sector investment, and the extension of distributed renewable energy solutions to rural regions were among the major ideas the Liberian leader offered.
President Boakai emphasized the creation of a high-level steering committee, headed by the vice president, to raise funds and guarantee preparedness for competitive bidding on Liberia’s first solar Independent Power Producer (IPP) project by October 2025 and the SP2 project by November 2026, acknowledging the significance of both public and private investment in accomplishing these objectives.
He stated that in the last ten years, Liberia’s power availability has increased from 3% in 2012 to 33% now, and that commercial losses have decreased to less than 30%, which is a notable improvement from more than 40% in 2022.
The Liberian Leader also thanked the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank Group for their crucial contributions to building alliances and assisting with energy projects around the continent.
President Boakai stated, “By working together, we can give everyone in Africa the energy they deserve, promoting prosperity, encouraging inclusivity, and guaranteeing a sustainable future for everybody.”
The Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit serves as a platform for African leaders to forge collaborations and champion policies aimed at achieving universal energy access by 2030, a goal critical to the continent’s development and global sustainability efforts.
In order to promote wealth, inclusivity, and sustainability throughout the continent, Boakai underlined Liberia’s dedication to attaining universal energy access.
In Dar es Salaam, the President and other African leaders emphasized the importance of Mission 300 to Liberia’s national development agenda, especially its compatibility with the country’s National Energy Compact and the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development.
“We can create prosperous economies by having access to dependable energy. It boosts healthcare, supports education, and drives industries. For innumerable communities, energy availability signifies the difference between stagnation and progress, between despair and opportunity,” President Boakai added.
