NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Sierra Leone aims to provide electricity to all of its 6 million citizens by 2025 in a push to boost the economy, expand crucial services such as healthcare, and reduce dependency on aid, officials said on Wednesday.

Less than 12 percent of people in Sierra Leone’s cities have access to electricity, while in rural areas, where most people live, the figure is less than 1 percent.

Under an initiative launched this week, Sierra Leone plans to bring solar power to all of the West African country’s 149 chiefdoms within the next 18 months and deliver power to 1 million people by 2020.

The initiative with Britain’s development aid ministry (DFID) is part of the UK Energy Africa campaign, which aims to help African countries reach a global development goal agreed by U.N. member states to ensure access to energy for all by 2030.