Benin Off Grid Energy Access Incentives
Only about 41% of the population of Benin had access to electricity as of 2016. In rural areas, where just over half of Benin’s population live, access was only about 18%. In addition, “access” (having any electricity or not) belies a spectrum of reliability, quality, and affordability for consumers. Benin suffers from almost total production dependence on regional partners, insufficient supply, and inadequate infrastructure.
In 2015, the Government of Benin and the Millennium Challenge Corporation sought to address some of these challenges through the Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (OGEAP), which would dedicate $46 million to expanding access through distributed generation. The OGEAP has the objective of increasing access to electricity and thereby (i) increasing the hours of operation for businesses and public and social services, (ii) reducing reliance on costlier sources of energy, (iii) reducing losses of products and perishable goods, and (iv) improving productivity for users of electricity.
Working with Social Impact, the project will evaluate the OGEAP, including conducting a performance evaluation of a grant facility, an impact evaluation of discrete off-grid investments, and a cost-benefit analysis, which will help to better understand effective ways of incentivizing off-grid electrification.
Duke Faculty/Staff: Marc Jeuland, Robyn Meeks, Rajah Saparapa
Duke Students: Travis Dauwalter
Partners: Social Impact, Millennium Challenge Corporation
Associated Documents: Evaluation Design Report