Electricity expansion project launched

Work is getting under way on the $35m World Bank-financed Accelerated Electricity Expansion Project (AEEP). Due for completion by 30 June 2018, the project will help the government reach its target of connecting 70% of the population of the capital, Monrovia, and 35% of the national population to the grid by 2030. The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) had only 14,000 customers registered in December 2012, up from 2,469 in July 2010, and equivalent to 6.7% of the population of Monrovia and 1.6% of the population as a whole. Expanding access has been hampered by the high cost of electricity, which at $0.50/kWh is among the costliest in the world and compares poorly with the sub-Saharan average of $0.15/kWh.