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

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Date
2022
Authors
Malama, Lavender
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Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
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
Description
Master of engineering in project management
Keywords
Rural electrification--Strategies. , Rural electrification--Developing countries. , Rural electrification.
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