Electricity in Somalia: who supplies power and what it costs

The short version

After 1991 there was no state power company. Private firms filled the gap with diesel generators, each wiring its own neighbourhood. By 2012 Mogadishu had about 36 separate small suppliers. In 2014 several of them merged to form the Banadir Electric Company (BECO), which now supplies about 85 percent of the capital's power; Blue Sky Energy and Mogadishu Power Supply (MPS) serve other districts (bgs.so, Navigating Non-Technical Barriers to Affordable Electricity in Somalia, 10 October 2025). Another Mogadishu firm, the Somali Energy Company (SECO), generates and sells power in Banadir (Wikipedia, Somali Energy Company).

Who has power

From the 2022 national household survey (Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022, chapter 6):

For lighting, 54.1 percent of people use electricity, 35.2 percent torches and 9.7 percent solar lamps. For cooking, 47.9 percent use charcoal and 41.3 percent firewood; gas and electricity are hardly used (same source). The national plan aims to raise access to 80 percent by 2029 (bgs.so, 2025). See The National Transformation Plan.

What it costs

By region, 2023 (bgs.so, 2025, citing Shuraako and the National Transformation Plan):

Mogadishu companies, 25 October 2026 (Dawan Africa, 25 October 2026):

The companies said fuel prices in Somalia had risen by more than 70 percent, linking this to conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (same source). The Somali Researchers Association compared Mogadishu's new price with $0.16 in Nairobi and $0.024 in Addis Ababa (SRA, 26 October 2026).

BECO's price was about $1.20 per kWh when it began in 2014 and fell to $0.36 by 2022, before rising to $0.41 when world fuel prices jumped in 2022 (bgs.so, 2025). A family of six in Mogadishu paid about $25 to $35 a month for electricity in early 2025 (EUAA). See Prices and inflation.

How power is made

• Diesel generators make about 88 percent of Somalia's electricity, and solar about 11 percent (bgs.so, 2025). See Solar and wind power.
• BECO alone burns about 1,300 barrels of diesel a day, costing about $193,700 a day or $70 million a year, from an installed capacity of 72 megawatts (same source).
• Power lost between the generator and the customer is about 40 percent nationally and 15 to 20 percent in Mogadishu. Rival firms often run two or three parallel sets of poles and cables in the same street (same source).
• In the study's survey of Mogadishu, 71 percent of businesses reported regular power cuts and 54 percent had lost goods to spoilage; 56 percent of households said electricity took an excessive share of their income (same source).

The law

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed the National Electricity Act on 8 March 2023 (Hiiraan Online, March 2023; Ministry of Energy and Water Resources). It created the National Electricity Authority to license suppliers, set and approve prices and run subsidies. The cabinet approved the authority in July 2023 (FAOLEX, Somalia Electricity Act 2023). Between 2012 and 2025 Somalia had more than ten energy ministers (bgs.so, 2025).

Sources disagree

• BECO's starting price. The same 2025 study gives $1.20 per kWh in 2014 in one place and $1.00 in another (bgs.so, 2025).
• Mogadishu's price in 2025. The study gives both $0.36 and $0.34 per kWh, while BECO's own price before October 2026 was $0.41 (bgs.so; Dawan Africa).
• The national average. The same study gives $0.81 per kWh in one table and a range of $0.61 to $0.90 elsewhere (same source).