Liberia has launched an ambitious €1.6 billion investment blueprint to expand nationwide electricity access, modernize the grid and rebuild confidence in the state utility, the head of the Liberia Electricity Corporation has told European investors.
LEC Managing Director Mohammed Sherif presented the plan at the Liberia–EU Business Forum in Brussels, describing the package as the most comprehensive overhaul of the country’s power sector since the end of the civil war.
Sherif said the strategy is designed to accelerate generation, transmission and distribution upgrades while strengthening governance, revenue recovery and digital systems.
“We are no longer in crisis stabilization mode,” Sherif told investors and development partners.
“We want a strategic partnership, including an infrastructure partnership. The Liberia Electricity Corporation is investment ready.”
Digital transformation sits at the heart of the proposal as the country plans to deploy a modern Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to enable real-time national grid monitoring, predictive maintenance and quicker outage response. LEC also plans customer-facing digital platforms to streamline complaints and service requests.
The government has allocated $50 million in the national budget for a smart meter rollout — the first post-war capital injection of its kind for such purpose.
LEC says smart meters will help reduce commercial losses, improve cost recovery and support anti-theft enforcement. Sherif said the utility has already intensified enforcement and revenue-recovery measures, resulting in 251 arrests related to power theft.
The investment roadmap includes major transmission and generation projects. LEC is targeting expanded transmission lines, including a proposed double circuit 66kV line from Botota through Lofa County, and plans to scale rural electrification beyond “pocket access,” installing nearly 3,900 streetlights across several counties to improve visibility and safety.
Hydropower is positioned as the long-term backbone of Liberia’s supply. Sherif highlighted the hydropower project and additional developments along the St. John River as intergenerational assets. Preliminary studies estimate the expansion, and upgrade could deliver up to 250 megawatts at a projected cost of €600–620 million, providing low-cost, renewable baseload power and reducing dependence on imported supplies from Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea.
LEC linked the electricity expansion directly to industrial and agricultural growth. Sherif pointed to the proposed Monrovia Industrial Park, which could require up to 85 megawatts of dedicated supply, and raised the potential for electrified agricultural hubs in food-producing regions such as Lofa County.
With total funding needs cited at roughly €1.6 billion (about $1.7 billion), Sherif made an explicit appeal to development finance institutions, private investors and European partners, noting LEC’s existing public-private partnership framework.
He framed the plan as aligned with the EU Global Gateway strategy, Mission 300 electrification targets and U.N. sustainable development goals, and urged partners to support Liberia’s push toward higher access rates — with a stated target of 75 percent electrification.
Analysts say the plan will face financing and implementation challenges, but if delivered could be transformative for Liberia’s economy by stabilizing power supply, unlocking industrial investment and reducing the fiscal burden of imported electricity.
