Strategies for increasing access to electricity services for rural electrification in Zambia.

Access to electricity is one of the main drivers in the process of sustainable development.
Access to energy transforms the lives of people, communities, and nations. The main issue
facing developing countries is the lack of access to affordable and reliable electricity supply
for their population, and it is often the rural population that is most affected. Despite the
Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ)’s efforts to create developmental policies aimed
at increasing access to electricity, access to electricity in rural areas remained low at 8.4% as
of 2018 (CSO, 2018). This study thus aimed at establishing strategies for increasing access to
electricity services through Rural Electrification (RE) in Zambia. The concurrent embedded
design which considers both qualitative and quantitative approaches was adopted for this study.
Using participants mainly from the Energy Sector which included, policymakers, developers,
implementing agencies, consultants, and regulators, data was collected and analysed. There are
several desirable conditions for successful rural electrification. These desirable conditions were
instrumental in the development of electrification strategies. The research established four key
electrification strategies i) to deploy an energy generation mix with solar, biogas, and wind
energy as alternative sources to hydropower based on a needs analysis. ii) mitigating the four
key constraints (lack of key stakeholder participation, insufficient domestic funding, poor
policy implementation, and external interference) as one strategy to enhance electrification iii)
enhancing financial support to policy and regulation administration iv) enhancing the provision
of subsidies for the rural community.
The research recommends (i) that the government should exploit the use of cost-reflective
tariffs as a way to improve private sector participation, (ii) improvement in the administration
of the REA Act towards the provision of energy services to all rural areas, (iii) expanding the
source of project funding for rural electrification to equity, debt, guarantee, and tax relief.
Keyword:
rural electrification, electricity access, energy sector, rural community