Full Title: Sierra Leone - Beyond Connections: Energy Access Diagnostic Report Based on the Multi-Tier Framework
Author(s): Bryan Bonsuk Koo and Safa Khan
Publisher(s): World Bank
Publication Date: June 27, 2024
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Description (excerpt):
The survey shows that nationwide 21.1% of Sierra Leone households have access to electricity via the national grid (20.5%) or mini-grids (0.6%) and 14.7% have off-grid access. Off-grid sources predominantly include solar products such as solar lanterns, solar home systems, and solar lighting systems, and off-grid use is largely limited to rural areas. The adoption of solar lanterns, however, is significantly higher than the use of other products in rural areas. Other off-grid sources include electric generators and rechargeable batteries.
Access to electricity varies between rural and urban areas. Populations in urban areas are more likely to be connected to the national grid (44.7%) than in rural areas (1.3%). Given the level of accessibility of the grid network in rural areas, the penetration of off-grid energy solutions in rural areas (17.4%) is relatively higher than in urban areas (11.6%).
Sierra Leone households’ electricity access is measured based on the Multi-Tier Framework (MTF) with seven attributes: Capacity, Availability, Reliability, Quality, Affordability, Formality, and Safety. Households are scored in Tiers for each attribute, and the lowest score among the seven becomes the final Tier classification, Aggregate Tier (ranged from Tier 0 to Tier 5, from close to no access to full access). The MTF assessment shows that nationwide, 24% of Sierra Leone households have the level of electricity that can be considered as having access (Tier 1 or above). Out of those who have access, the highest share of Sierra Leone households falls into Aggregate Tier 2 (15.8%), which indicates that many households experience problems with electricity affordability, availability, and/or capacity. The level of electricity access is worse in rural areas, with a higher share of households in Aggregate Tier 0 (close to no access), 95.7%, compared to 52.6% in urban areas.
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