• Côte d’Ivoire will launch a nationwide census to identify unelectrified areas by end-March 2026.
• The country electrified 95.67% of localities by June 2025, up from 33.1% in 2011.
• The government targets full electricity access by 2030 and plans to mobilize $2 billion in private investment.

The Ivorian government will launch, before the end of March, a nationwide census of localities still without electricity and of the remaining needs to extend the national power grid, President Alassane Ouattara said in his address to the nation on December 31, 2025. The government aims to optimize efforts to achieve full national coverage for electricity and water services.

This initiative follows more than a decade of continuous investment and improvement in the electricity sector. According to the government’s 2011–2025 performance report, authorities electrified 95.67% of localities by June 2025, compared with 33.1% in 2011. Installed generation capacity increased from 1,391 megawatts to 3,019 megawatts, marking a 117% rise driven mainly by thermal and hydropower sources. Authorities also expanded the grid to 7,700 kilometers of transmission lines and 67,089 kilometers of distribution networks.

Despite these gains, effective electricity access for households remains below locality electrification levels. World Bank data showed electricity access in Ivory Coast reached 72% in 2023, highlighting a persistent gap between infrastructure expansion and actual household connections, in addition to remaining unconnected areas.

The planned census also aligns with commitments the country recently made under the National Energy Compact. Under this framework, the government pledged to provide electricity access to about 17 million additional people by 2030 to reach a 100% national access rate. Authorities also committed to increasing renewable energy to 45% of the power mix and mobilizing $2 billion in private investment to support this strategy.

Within this framework, solar energy will play an expanding role. Ongoing projects, including the Kong Solar project, will support and diversify the power mix while accelerating universal electricity access and strengthening Ivory Coast’s position as a regional electricity exporter in West Africa.

This article was initially published in French by Abdoullah Diop

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum