Connection Charges and Electricity Access in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa trails other regions in providing access to electricity for poor urban and rural residents. This poor performance can be linked to various factors, including political interference in utility policy, higher investment costs and l...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Golumbeanu, Raluca, Barnes, Douglas
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:	ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY ACCESS TO FINANCING ACCESS TO GRID ELECTRICITY ACCESS TO MODERN ENERGY ACCESSIBILITY AFFORDABILITY ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROGRAM AMOUNT OF POWER APPROACH AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT AVAILABILITY BACKBONE BALANCE BATTERIES BUILDING MATERIALS CAPITAL COST CAPITAL COSTS CAPITAL FUND CELL PHONE CEMENT COMMERCIAL BANK COMMERCIAL BANKING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY FUNDING COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMPS CONNECTED HOUSEHOLDS COOPERATIVES CORPORATE CULTURE COST OF ELECTRICITY COST-SHARING COVERS CREDIT FACILITY CREDIT SCHEMES CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CUSTOMER SERVICE DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY DEPOSIT DEPOSITS DIESEL DISTRIBUTION NETWORK DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELECTRIC COMPANY ELECTRIC POWER ELECTRICAL GRID ELECTRICITY ELECTRICITY ACCESS ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY ELECTRICITY BILL ELECTRICITY BILLS ELECTRICITY COMPANY ELECTRICITY CONSUMERS ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION ELECTRICITY CORPORATION ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANY ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS ELECTRICITY GRID ELECTRICITY NETWORK ELECTRICITY PRICES ELECTRICITY REVENUES ELECTRICITY SERVICE ELECTRICITY SERVICES ELECTRICITY SUPPLY ELECTRICITY TARIFF ELECTRICITY TARIFFS ELECTRICITY USE ELECTRIFICATION ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA EMPLOYMENT ENERGY CONSUMPTION ENERGY EFFICIENCY ENERGY EXPENDITURE ENERGY MARKETS ENERGY OUTLOOK ENERGY POLICIES ENERGY STRATEGY ENERGY USE ENGINEERS ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY EXPENDITURES FAMILIES FAMILY INCOME FANS FINANCE COMPANY FINANCES FINANCIAL BURDEN FINANCIAL BURDENS FINANCIAL CHALLENGES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY FINANCIAL VIABILITY FINANCING COSTS FIRE FREE LOANS FUNDING SOURCES GAS GENDER GENDER EQUALITY GENERATING CAPACITY GENERATION GENERATION SYSTEMS GENERATORS GRID CONNECTION GRID CONNECTIONS GRID ELECTRIFICATION GRID EXTENSION GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT HARDWARE HAZARDS HUMAN CAPITAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT INCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITY INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERY INNOVATIONS INSPECTION INSTALLATION INSTALLATIONS INSTALLMENT INSTALLMENTS INTEREST RATE INTEREST RATES INTERNATIONAL BANK INVENTORY INVESTMENT CAPITAL INVESTMENT DECISION KEROSENE KEROSENE LAMPS LACK OF KNOWLEDGE LIMITED ACCESS LOAN MASS NEEDS OF WOMEN NETWORK SYSTEMS OIL OPEN ACCESS OPERATING COSTS OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY PDF POWER POWER CORPORATION POWER GENERATION POWER GRID PRESSURE PRICE OF ELECTRICITY PROCUREMENT PRODUCTIVITY PROFITABILITY PUBLIC UTILITIES PURCHASE OF ELECTRICITY QUALITY CONTROL RADIO RADIOS REFLECTION RENEWABLE ENERGY REPAYMENT REPAYMENT PERIOD RESIDENTIAL CONSUMERS RESULT RESULTS REVOLVING FUND RURAL ELECTRIC RURAL ELECTRICITY RURAL ELECTRIFICATION RURAL ENERGY SAFETY SAVINGS SELF-HELP SMALL BUSINESSES SOCIAL SERVICE SOLAR HOME SYSTEMS SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SUSTAINABLE RURAL ENERGY SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT TARGETS TARIFF STRUCTURES TECHNICAL STANDARDS TELEPHONE TELEVISION TRANSMISSION TRANSMISSION LINES TRANSPORT UNION UNIVERSAL ACCESS URBAN AREAS URBAN ELECTRIFICATION USER USERS USES UTILITIES VERIFICATION VILLAGE VILLAGE ELECTRIFICATION VILLAGES VOLTAGE WEB
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/06/17933875/connection-charges-electricity-access-sub-saharan-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15871

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Summary:	Sub-Saharan Africa trails other regions in providing access to electricity for poor urban and rural residents. This poor performance can be linked to various factors, including political interference in utility policy, higher investment costs and lower profitability of extending service to rural areas. But a major obstacle to wider access is the high charges consumers must pay to connect to the electricity network. The connection charges in Sub-Saharan Africa are among the highest in the world, which has resulted in low rates of electrification in many countries. This paper reviews ways to improve electrification rates by addressing the issue of high connection charges. Essential to the success of such efforts is concurrent political commitment to identify, examine, and implement various low-cost electrification approaches and financing solutions as part of a broad plan to improve access. Electricity companies can lower their connection-related costs, and thus consumer charges, by using a variety of low-cost technologies and materials in distribution networks and household connections; making bulk purchases of materials; and adjusting technical standards to reflect the lower loads of households that use a minimum amount of electricity. Strategies for lowering connection charges may also include spreading charges over a reasonable period, rolling them into monthly service payments, subsidizing connections, or amortizing them through loans. Lowering connection charges is not the only step, but it is an essential part of any strategy for addressing the electricity access gap between rich and poor households in Sub-Saharan Africa, a gap that denies millions of poor Africans the benefits of electricity.

Connection Charges and Electricity Access in Sub-Saharan Africa

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