Rural electrification in the Cote d'Ivoire : the will to share

The electrification of rural communities in the Cote d'Ivoire has progressed more rapidly than any other sub-Saharan nation, principally because of the will of government authorities to eliminate any regional disparities within the country. Out of a total of 8,538 villages, 475 villages had electricity by the end of 1980. This number climbed to 1,068 by 1995 and 1,691 in 1997. Currently, 66 per cent of all citizens of the country have electricity. Much of this effort, at least until 1990, was supported by a strong state-owned electric utility. A limited number of off-grid power generation projects were also undertaken. These projects involved photovoltaic stations, diesel or gasoline powered generating stations and biomass fueled stations. Privatization of the national electric utility in 1990 resulted in significant decrease in the progress of rural electrification. fig