Zambia: Electricity Service Access Project

The objective of the Electricity Service Access Project is to increase electricity access in Zambia's targeted rural areas. There are three components to the project, the first component being on-grid electricity access expansion. This component will provide financing for on-grid connections in rural areas using the approaches under the OBA/connection fee subsidy program. To support the ‘last mile’ connections, the project will also finance critical distribution network reinforcements and extensions through applying low-cost technologies where appropriate that will enable ZESCO to add new connections to the grid, complementing ongoing access expansion efforts by CPs in other parts of the country. The second component is the off-grid electricity access expansion.

This component will initially fund required upstream activities to enable the private sector participation in rural off-grid electrification, including identifying and scoping off-grid sites, helping the Government of Zambia address the existing regulatory impediments, building the needed capacity at key institutions, and designing financial mechanisms. Finally, the third component is the capacity building and project implementation support. This component will finance technical assistance (TA) to the Gpvernment of Zambia to ensure that the project reaches its objective of enhancing and improving the enabling environment needed for a substantially scaled-up electrification effort.