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Isolated Rural Localities in Cte dIvoire: Opportunities for Community Solars.

Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to present the opportunity to equip isolated rural
populations in Cte dIvoire with community solar panels, in order to offset the
difficulties in connecting these areas to the national power grid. It is based on the
following observations: (a) the cost of connecting distant rural areas to the national
power grid system is very expensive, because it does not yield positive net revenue to
the state utility corporation; and (b) the populations in those areas are left without
electricity for their basic needs, namely lighting, mobile phone charging, radio and TV
sets operation.
In view of the level of electricity needs in those isolated rural areas, off-grid community
solar arrays could represent a valuable strategy. Hence the aim of this paper to
encourage the national electricity planning and development agency (SOPIE) to pilot
test community solar projects in the Ivorian remotest rural regions.

Background
Isolated rural localities in Cte dIvoire are deprived from basic electricity provision,
because of the huge costs involved in connecting them to the centralized national
power grid system. This situation has a negative impact on the national efforts towards
development and improvement of living standards. Some of the records issued by local
and international agencies include the following facts:
-

In 2012, the national coverage rate - the number of localities with access to
electricity as a proportion of total localities - was 34% (A. Traor, 2012);

That same year, the access rate - the proportion of the total population within
those localities with access to electricity who actually have connections to the
grid - was 74% (idem);

Recently, electricity demand in the country has dramatically increased with an

average rate of 6% per annum from 2003 to 2012, while net electricity
production has grown at only 2% per annum during the same timeframe (African
Development Bank, 2013);

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As of this year, less than 15% of the populations living in Ivorian rural areas
have access to electricity (Encyclopedia.com, 2014), which means that more
than 3/4 of that population is isolated from the mainstream power grid system.

Current Status
Lack of access to electricity in the rural areas is a major obstacle to the national
development strategy in Cte dIvoire. It negatively influences the productivity of the
country, as most of the agricultural production (the motor of the economy) takes place
in the rural places (A. Traor, 2012, p.19). Although expansion of the current power
generation capacity was planned since 2013, with the financial support of the African
Development Bank, the first deliverables would be expected in at least five years from
now. Furthermore, solar panel technology has significantly improved by now, with more
energy generation capacity. The panels have also become cheaper on the
international market. There seems to be a good opportunity to pilot test independent
solar power generation in isolated rural communities.

Issues
Some of the main challenges posed by the current lack of access to the centralized
power grid by Ivorian rural communities are:

Viability of investment: the demand for electricity in rural areas is low, compared
to urban areas. In addition, the current land development strategy has caused
some rural areas to be very distant from urban centers. With the knowledge that
investment in energy distribution over long distances requires enormous
resources, it can be difficult for the government to find investors who are willing
to invest at a loss, or who will only be able to recover their investment over a
century at least.

Risk of disinformation: rural areas can be very sensitive to rumors, as it has

been observed recently during the 2010 post-presidential elections. By being
excluded from the national information mainstream, they may be easily
manipulated with biased information. Some of the risks in disinformation include
public health (epidemics), crop prices, climate change signals and national
security.

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Penetration of innovation: most, if not all, of the modern technological

innovations operate with electrical power (mobile phone, internet equipment,
etc.). The lack of access to electricity can cause isolated rural localities to be
completely cut off from current developments. This situation can be an important
threat to development goals (both local and global).

Discussion
Lack of access to electricity in isolated rural localities can be an obstacle to the wellbeing of the populations in those areas, while also impacting the national development
plan. Community independent solar power generation could be a good strategy. Some
of the opportunities would be:
-

A lower amount of investment needed, as it will not necessitate huge resources

to interconnect regions with the centralized power grid system. In addition,
financial contributions of the connected community could relatively be lower,
and more affordable, as several households could share power generated by
some few square meters of solar panels. They would not need to incur expenses
related to connection equipment from the centralized system to their remote
compounds;

The fact that the availability of solar-powered electricity in remote areas can
significantly reduce the risk of misinformation. The households would be able to
operate their little electronic devices like portable radio and television sets, LEDlamps and mobile phones. Among other benefits, they could receive information
about price trends of agricultural produce (like cocoa or coffee), and government
press releases (related to climate facts or epidemics for example);

The reduction of the technological gap between Ivorian urban and rural areas,
since rural communities would not be left behind regarding technological
developments. Tools like computers and the internet could progressively be
introduced in those areas. In addition, community solar panels would be a
contributing factor to technological incubation in those areas. Community
members can be trained to provide basic technical system maintenance,
compared to what the connection to the complex centralized system requires.
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Conclusion
Lack of access to electricity in remote rural areas is a serious issue to address in Cte
dIvoire, above all if the country means to become an emerging economy (as
propounded by the current government). Continued isolation of distant rural localities
to the country electric grid system is not a positive contributing factor to the national
development plan, because the economy of Cte dIvoire is largely predicated on the
agricultural production that takes place in those areas. For that purpose, we believe
that independent community power generation systems, in the form of solar panels
shared by small groups within a rural population - with very little power need, can be a
good strategy to pilot-test in Ivorian remote rural areas. Not only will the investment be
relatively small, but those systems could also fit within the typical household budget of
the populations in those areas.

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References
African Development Bank Group. (2014, October 15). AfDB Enhances Access to
Reliable and Affordable Electricity Supply in Cte dIvoire. Retrieved from
http://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/article/afdb-enhances-access-toreliable-and-affordable-electricity-supply-in-cote-divoire-12150/

Encyclopedia.com (October 15, 2014). Cte d4ivoire Facts 2014. Retrieved from
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Cote_Divoire.aspx

Traor, A. (2012). Independent Power Generation: the Ivoirian Model. Private Sector
and Development, pp. 6-8
World Bank. (2014, October 15). Data Sheet on Cte dIvoire. Retrieved from
http://data.worldbank.org/country/cote-divoire

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