According to the AIE, while the extension of national grids is the least costly option for 45% of people gaining access to electricity by 2030, in rural areas, where over 80% of people without electricity live, mini-grids and stand-alone systems, mainly solar, are the most viable solutions.
The deployment of pay-as-you-go technologies in the 2010s and the fall in the price of photovoltaics have, at the same time, rekindled private-sector interest in access to electricity. However, private initiatives, rarely carried out in close collaboration with public authorities and in a stable institutional context, are showing their limits, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The private sector is confronted with the constraints of rural areas (remoteness, dispersion and people's low ability to pay).
In these areas, where financial profitability is difficult to achieve, Public Service Delegation could be an effective way of mobilizing both public and private parties, by committing them to the long-term sustainability of the electricity service, while at the same time providing a reassuring regulatory framework for the private sector.
The aim of this conference is to reflect on and analyze current "all-public" or "all-private" approaches, with a view to drawing up a few recommendations for defining this third path to electricity access for all in Africa.
