Prepared by ASR in collaboration with SEforALL, the document explains how proven regulatory and business practices can support universal, affordable and lasting electricity access. It argues that electrification requires integrated planning, viable service providers and sustainable financing, alongside political commitment and effective institutions.
The proposed approach combines three interdependent elements:
– Technical and economic planning: identify the least-cost combination of grid extension, mini-grids and stand-alone systems.
– Regulatory and business models: establish long-term service obligations, affordable tariffs and predictable remuneration that attract private investment while ensuring all communities receive service.
– Financial planning: coordinate public, concessional and private resources to cover investment, operation, maintenance and asset replacement.
The document emphasises productive uses of electricity, customer support and performance incentives. It proposes a financial coordination entity, “FinanceCo”, supported by protected funding accounts and foreign-exchange risk mechanisms, to reconcile short donor funding cycles with long-term service needs. An annex provides questions for adapting the approach to Zambia’s electrification programme.
Its central message is that connecting customers must be accompanied by arrangements that sustain reliable service over time
