Genesis advises Lesotho on rural electrification

The Government of Lesotho, through its energy policy and poverty reduction strategy, has prioritised rural electrification to facilitate economic development and alleviate poverty in rural areas

A key challenge is that the sparsely located, low-demand of rural regions makes the provision of electricity prohibitively expensive. The government set up a Rural Electrification Unit tasked with advancing rural electrification a number of years ago, but its operational structure did not support effective service delivery and the rollout of electricity to Lesotho’s rural areas.

It is against this background that the Government of Lesotho engaged Genesis Analytics in partnership with CRISIL – a global infrastructure advisory firm – to recommend changes to the institutional arrangements and functions of the unit to enable it to deliver on its mandate to increase rural electrification in Lesotho.

Genesis will draw on its in-depth expertise in the electricity sector combined with its technical expertise in infrastructure development, regulation and tariff modelling to advise the government on the following key issues:

• The appropriate institutional structure of the unit that will enhance its ability to achieve its mandate;
• The relevant financing arrangements to enable the unit to cover the costs of operations and infrastructure rollout;
• Appropriate tariff structures and levels for the unit that take into consideration the financial viability of the institution and affordability of consumers; and
• Appropriate capital subsidy policy and levels where cost recovery is not possible.