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Data put together by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) revealed that Sierra Leone and Ghana recorded the highest power outage accounting for 15.8 percent each.
The power outage is reported to have been responsible for 8.3 percent annual revenue sales loss in the West African region with both consumers and producers at the receiving end of it.
The sub-region is believed to be the least developed in terms of electricity generation and supply. Experts also compare the cost of energy in the sub-region and the earning power of consumers. For example, a kilowatt per hour is priced at $0.25 in Sierra Leone. This is said to be expensive considering the World Bank concluding that the majority of Sierra Leoneans cannot afford more than $2 a day.
The cost of electricity in sub-region has been attributed to the reliance of fossil fuel for electricity generation. Also, experts warn that the entire continent is constrained with providing electricity for its growing population.
Sierra Leone, although at the bottom of the ranking, has put several modalities in place address the issue. For example, Olusola and others said that more 75 percent of Sierra Leoneans lack access to electricity in 2012.
That trajectory is changing with the advent of the Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (CLSG) electricity networks interconnection project.
The project has seen electricity generation of electricity from Cote d’Ivoire to Sierra Leone and other Mano River Union (MRU) countries.
Rural areas and provincial towns in Sierra Leone have already started benefitting from the project.
Experts have said that rural electrification could be game changer and help decentralisation.
