Improving access to renewable energy in rural Sierra Leone

Download the policy brief here.

• In Sierra Leone, only about 5% of the population in rural areas have access to electricity.
• The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is supporting the Government of Sierra Leone to increase access to electricity through the Rural Renewable Energy Project (RREP) with funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
• This policy brief investigates findings from an impact evaluation of the project, which provided communities across 14 districts of Sierra Leone with access to off-grid solar electricity.
• The findings show that the project has been successful in increasing access to clean energy in rural communities. However, more needs to be done to ensure electricity has a transformative impact on people’s livelihoods.
• The policy brief points to policies which can improve the implementation of the programme in Sierra Leone and elsewhere, contributing to better access to electricity and its productive use in rural communities.