• Nine rural communities in northern Senegal connected to national power grid
• Project commissioned Jan. 9, 2026 under government rural electrification programme
• Move supports universal access goal; rural electrification gaps remain

Nine rural communities in the Linguere department of northern Senegal have been connected to the national electricity grid, authorities said.

The installations were commissioned on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, during a ceremony in Diery Birane attended by local administrative officials and the director general of the Senegalese Rural Electrification Agency (ASER).

The project was carried out under a rural electrification program and implemented with the support of private operator AEE Power, which connected the beneficiary communities to the national grid, officials said at the ceremony.

The initiative forms part of the Senegalese government’s efforts to expand electricity access nationwide and move toward universal coverage. According to official data published in 2025, the national electricity access rate stood at about 84%, while more than 30% of rural communities remained without a grid connection.

Senegal has more than 22,000 villages, of which around 9,000 had access to electricity based on the latest available data from ASER. Authorities estimate that the country aims to provide electricity to an additional 6.6 million people by 2030, according to projections reported by Ecofin Agency in February 2025.

Officials said the project is expected to improve living conditions, support local economic activity and strengthen access to basic social services. In December 2025, civil society groups urged the government to make greater use of decentralized energy solutions, which they argue are better suited to remote rural areas.

Abdel-Latif Boureima