Published: November 28, 2025
MONROVIA — Liberia’s long-delayed Gbedin Falls hydropower project is set to receive a major boost after the African Development Fund on Wednesday approved an additional $7.41 million to complete construction of the run-of-river power plant and its associated infrastructure.
The approval, announced in Abidjan, closes critical financing gaps caused by implementation delays, cost overruns, and underfunded components, including the project’s Gender Action Plan. The African Development Fund is the concessional lending arm of the African Development Bank Group.
According to the Bank, the new financing will ensure the project delivers its core outputs—completion of the hydropower plant, grid integration, and full environmental and social safeguards.
The Renewable Energy for Electrification project is a joint undertaking between the Liberian government and the African Development Bank. It was approved in October 2019, signed in January 2020, and launched in March 2021.
The initiative includes the construction of a 9.34-megawatt run-of-river hydropower plant at Gbedin Falls in Nimba County. The facility is expected to generate 56.5 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, feeding directly into Liberia’s national grid.
To support the plant, the project includes construction of an 8-km 33-kV evacuation line, two transformer substations, and a connection to a cross-border transmission network. Workers will also complete a 15-km permanent access road and an 8-km temporary road leading to the site.
Beyond generation, the project aims to expand distribution networks across Nimba and Bong counties, including 50 km of new 33/0.4-kV lines and connections for 6,650 households.
Once operational, the hydropower plant is projected to increase Liberia’s national energy supply by nearly 7 percent, providing electricity to roughly 60,000 people, including 6,500 new household connections to the national grid.
The Bank says the additional financing is intended to ensure Liberia reaches these targets without further delays, strengthening energy access in a country where electricity remains one of the most significant constraints to economic growth.
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