The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Operational decision · 2014–2020
CIE's pay-over-time connections doubled Côte d'Ivoire's electricity access
Instead of demanding full connection fees, CIE charged $2 down and spread the rest over 10 years, then industrialized installation—doubling access to 50%.
Compagnie Ivoirienne d'Électricité (CIE)
The solution
In 2013 only 26% of Côte d'Ivoire's population had reliable electricity even though the grid passed close to most homes; the blocker was the entry ticket—a hefty first-time connection charge that pushed households toward illegal connections.
CIE proposed Electricité pour tous: households pay about $2 upfront and the remainder over up to 10 years, while the utility pre-finances in-house wiring; the program, adopted by the government in 2014, effectively turned a capital expense into a monthly bill.
A World Bank (IDA) pilot subsidized the first-time charge—$40 down with the rest on bi-monthly bills—and connected 45,000 households in less than two years; scaling up, CIE grouped installers into 25 dedicated crews with customized trucks and certified electricians, connecting 30,000 homes countrywide in three months.
By 2019 access to reliable electricity had nearly doubled to 50%, and the Edison Electric Institute gave CIE its 2020 International Edison Award for the program.
Why it worked
- Spreading fees over 10 years removed the one barrier that pushed people into illegal connections.
- Dedicated crews and certified electricians turned installation into repeatable work instead of case-by-case approvals.
- Pre-financing in-house wiring made the connection usable the day it was installed.
- The pilot's measured results gave the government a proven model to adopt nationally.
What can be applied
When a single upfront charge blocks a market, repackage it as a long payment plan and standardize delivery: the barrier was cash flow and process, not the price of the product.
Aftermath
The program scaled toward its goal of giving six million people—a quarter of the population—their first legal connection, with access nearly doubling from 26% to 50% by 2019; CIE won the 2020 International Edison Award, and the same reform drive included a strategy to reduce electricity fraud.
Sources
- Tackling the last mile of electricity access in Cote d'Ivoire
- ATCO and Compagnie Ivoirienne d'Electricité Win EEI's International Edison Award
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