The Swedish Embassy accredited to Liberia and Sierra Leone wishes to inform the public that the Swedish Government has taken a difficult decision that Swedish bilateral development cooperation with Liberia will be phased out and the Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia will be closed during the course of 2026.

This decision has not been taken lightly and is a consequence of reduced funding in our overall budget for development cooperation. Other countries that are being affected in Africa are Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Tanzania.

The phase out of bilateral support will be done in a responsible and orderly way, with operations terminated by the end of August 2026. However, our support for Liberia through global support to multilateral organizations and through the EU will not be affected. The decision to phase out bilateral support is not in any way linked to policies or events in Liberia.

The Swedish Government will make every effort to preserve the excellent relations between our two countries despite the changing circumstances. We will seek to strengthen and broaden the partnership between Liberia and Sweden beyond development cooperation, not least through enhanced trade and business relations. Sweden remains a steadfast partner to Liberia and attaches great importance to our shared priorities and values which together with our strong historic ties provides a solid foundation for continued good relations between our two countries.

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Public statement first published on SwedenAbroad.se/Monrovia.