BUSINESS INSIGHTS

Power For All: How The Decentralized Renewable Energy Program Makes A Significant Socio-Economic Impact In Africa Region?

Access to reliable and clean electricity is still a problem for sub-Saharan Africa's large population, particularly those who live far from the interconnected grid. Off-grid solar technologies will play an important role in population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, in order to achieve universal energy access by 2030 A report titled "Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2020: State of the Sector" - published by the World Bank's Lighting Global and International Finance Corp (IFC), GOGLA, and Efficiency for Access Coalitionstates that off-grid solar will be the cheapest option for 41% of all new household connections between 2020-2030.

Power Africa Off-Grid Project (PAOP) :

PAOP program is helping to build the off-grid marketplace in Kenya and the sub-Saharan Africa region to increase sustainable private sector-led off-grid energy access They offer broad-based market intelligence for investors to help with financial product design, advise governments on setting supportive policy frameworks and provide support This project is helping to accelerate private sector-led energy access by helping to create the off-grid marketplace It focuses on market intelligence, policy, and regulation, as well as access to finance and cross-sectoral integration By 2022, the Power Africa Off Grid Project (PAOP) will enable more than two million Kenyans to access electricity through solar home systems and mini-grids to meet their needs for their homes and businesses

PAOP BUDGET: USD $50 million

PAOP DURATION: 2018-2022

Countries 2 :

Country: Liberia

Revised Policy: Consumer service and quality-of-supply regulations

Policy Impact: The Project reviewed the Draft Customer Service and Quality Supply Regulations for Service Providers in the electricity industry and submitted a memo to the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission (LERC) The Project’s input included updating the list of professions governed by the regulation.

Countries 3 :

Sub-Saharan Africa (Active in over 25 countries) Focus countries:

PAOP ACTIVITY LOCATIONS

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Niger, Liberia, Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana, and Senegal

PAOP IMPLEMENTING PARTNER: Research Triangle International (RTI)

PAOP KEY PARTNERS: Tetra Tech, Fraym, Norton Rose Fulbright, Practical Action Consulting

National Policies That Affect The Off-Grid Adoption In Sub-Saharan African

Countries 1 :

Country: Burkina Faso

Revised Policy: Off-grid solar product quality control roadmap

Policy Impact: The Project reviewed the decree on quality control for solar equipment drafted by the National Agency for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency The Project also has been collaborating with the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) and Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) The main challenge is an institutional conflict between the Agency for Standards, Metrology, and Quality and ANEREE, as both are being assigned similar responsibilities in the quality control process. This overlap might lead to more burden and cost for solar companies when importing products to Burkina Faso

Country: Niger

Revised Policy: Notes on mini-grid regulations

Policy Impact: The Project submitted a note to the Niger Rural Electrification Agency (Agence Nigérienne de Promotion de l’Electrification en Milieu Rural [ANPER]) on ways to solve issues with mini-grid regulations Currently, there is a contradiction between the bottom-up approach and the Government of Niger’s competitive procurement process ANPER agreed with the suggestions and will revise the regulations.

Revised Policy: Draft ministerial decree on the quality control of solar equipment and compliance control of solar installations

Drafted Policy Impact: At the request of the National Agency of Solar Energy (Agence Nationale d’Énergie Solaire [ANERSOL]), the Project reviewed the draft regulation that will govern quality control of solar equipment and standards assessments of solar installations in Niger

Source: https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf docs/PA00Z68H.pdf, USAID Fiscal Year 2021 Power Africa Off-Grid Annual Report