MONROVIA, LIBERIA — In another significant moment for Liberia’s electricity sector, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr. has officially commissioned the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), Hon. Albert N. Forh, and Managing Director Hon. Mohammed M. Sherif, reaffirming their mandate to lead the country’s public electricity utility at a critical period of transformation, increased generation and nationwide expansion.
The commissioning ceremony took place at the Executive Mansion in Monrovia, alongside the commissioning of several other senior government officials entrusted with key responsibilities in the Boakai administration.
The occasion was witnessed by members of LEC’s senior leadership, including Deputy Managing Directors Hon. Thomas Z. Gonkerwon, Hon. Eric Augustine Fredericks, and Hon. Mohammed L. Sow, as well as Chief Financial Officer Adam Sherif.
New Momentum in Liberia’s Electricity Sector
Across Liberia’s energy landscape, the leadership of Managing Director Mohammed M. Sherif and his team is advancing an ambitious drive to strengthen a historically challenged electricity sector, expand access, increase generation, improve institutional performance, attract private-sector participation, and deepen cooperation with regional and international development partners.
The progress is increasingly being reflected in the numbers.
Liberia’s national electricity-access rate has increased from approximately 32.7% in 2024 to an estimated 38% in 2026, according to recent Government figures.
The country’s National Energy Compact sets an even more ambitious target: reaching approximately 75% electricity access by 2030, with an average of 100,000 households expected to gain electricity access annually through grid connections, mini-grids and off-grid solutions.
The scale of recent expansion is already significant. Between January and December 2025, approximately 81,776 new household connections, representing nearly 376,000 people, gained access to electricity through World Bank-financed projects and interventions supported by other development partners.
20MW Solar Farm Adds New Power to Liberia’s Grid
One of the most visible milestones under the current LEC leadership has been the successful completion and commissioning of Liberia’s first utility-scale solar photovoltaic plant at the Mount Coffee Hydropower Complex.
Commissioned by President Boakai in June 2026, the 20-megawatt Mount Coffee Solar Plant is now contributing renewable electricity to the national grid, complementing Liberia’s hydropower and thermal generation.
The project represents a major step toward diversifying Liberia’s energy mix and strengthening electricity availability, particularly during periods when hydropower generation is constrained by lower water levels.
Plans are already underway to increase the solar facility from 20MW to 30MW, alongside the installation of battery energy storage infrastructure to further strengthen grid reliability.
Mount Coffee Returns to Full 88MW Capacity
Another major breakthrough has been the successful restoration of Unit #1 at the Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant.
The turbine had been out of service since 2021, resulting in the loss of approximately 22MW of generating capacity from one of Liberia’s most important electricity assets.
Following extensive rehabilitation works, the damaged unit was successfully restored in 2026, returning the Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant to its full installed generating capacity of 88MW.
Combined with the new 20MW solar facility, the restoration significantly strengthens LEC’s domestic renewable generation capacity and provides additional support to the national grid.
The Government and its development partners are looking beyond these gains. Plans are advancing for an additional 42MW expansion of the Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant, which would further increase the strategic facility’s generating capacity.
Taking Electricity Beyond Monrovia
The transformation is not limited to electricity generation.
LEC continues to extend transmission and distribution infrastructure into communities that historically had limited or no access to grid electricity.
Under the current expansion drive, thousands of households and businesses are being connected across Liberia, while electricity is reaching communities that had gone decades without grid power.
Among the major beneficiaries are communities in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County; Cestos City, River Cess County; Gbarnga and surrounding communities in Bong County; Margibi; Bomi; Grand Cape Mount; and expanding communities across Montserrado County.
These developments are more than electricity statistics.
Every new connection has the potential to extend business hours, improve healthcare delivery, strengthen schools, support digital connectivity, stimulate local industries and create new economic opportunities for Liberian families.
Development Partners Back Liberia’s Energy Transformation
The Government of Liberia, through LEC and other sector institutions, is working closely with international partners, particularly the World Bank Group and African Development Bank, to mobilize significant investments for electricity generation, transmission, distribution and institutional strengthening.
Under Liberia’s Mission 300 National Energy Compact, the country has committed to accelerating electrification while increasing renewable energy’s contribution to the national energy mix.
By 2030, Liberia aims to achieve approximately 75% national electricity access, compared with the Government’s current estimate of about 38%, while significantly expanding renewable generation and attracting greater private investment into the sector.
This means that the transformation underway at LEC must go beyond maintaining existing infrastructure. It requires simultaneously expanding generation, connecting new customers, improving reliability, reducing commercial and technical losses, strengthening revenue collection and building a financially sustainable national utility.
“Public Office Is a Trust”
Speaking during the commissioning ceremony, President Boakai reminded officials that appointment to public service must never be regarded as a reward or personal benefit.
Rather, public officials are custodians of the public trust and are expected to carry out their responsibilities with integrity, accountability and an unwavering commitment to the Liberian people.
For LEC’s Board and Management, that message carries particular significance.
Electricity remains one of the most important foundations for Liberia’s economic transformation. From industries and hospitals to schools, businesses and households, reliable and affordable electricity is essential to unlocking the country’s development potential.
The commissioning of Board Chairman Hon. Albert N. Forh and Managing Director Hon. Mohammed M. Sherif therefore comes as LEC moves through one of the most consequential periods in the rebuilding of Liberia’s electricity sector.
With the 20MW Mount Coffee Solar Plant now commissioned, the damaged 22MW turbine restored, Mount Coffee returned to its full 88MW hydropower capacity, tens of thousands of new household connections being delivered, and major generation and distribution investments advancing, Liberia’s electricity transformation is steadily gathering momentum.
For the LEC leadership, the mandate from the President and the Liberian people is unmistakable:
Expand access. Increase generation. Strengthen reliability. Build partnerships. Connect communities. And power Liberia’s economic transformation.
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