Powering inclusive growth: Measuring electricity impacts on micro, small, and medium enterprises in Sierra Leone

Working paper 4 Dec 2025 Energy and Sustainable Growth

The study shows that poor power quality and reliability in Sierra Leone significantly restrict MSME productivity, amplify economic and social inequalities, and hinder growth in peri urban and rural areas. Using high resolution, real time electricity monitoring across Freetown, it documents substantial spatial and temporal variation in outages and voltage disturbances, and analyses how these conditions affect business costs, resilience, and utility losses.