Better access to energy services offers new economic opportunities to rural communities, in particular for the processing of agricultural products. The project to support the maximisation of the socioeconomic impacts of rural electrification in Côte d’Ivoire (MAX) is helping Ivorian rural communities develop this potential, in particular by facilitating the acquisition of productive electrical equipment.
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has obtained a €4 million grant from the European Union to finance this project. It has entrusted its implementation to Expertise France.
The MAX project aims to facilitate access to electrical equipment and its use for the various categories of electricity consumers: community spaces, households and economic actors.
To do so, the MAX project seeks to improve the action of public authorities and the private sector, by providing public facilities with electrical equipment and/or encouraging private stakeholders in electrical equipment distribution chains to improve the quality of their products and services or extend their service areas.
Part of the project budget is earmarked for the allocation of grants to private or public stakeholders for the implementation of subprojects, in order to achieve the objectives assigned to MAX.
The project activities have been developed by Expertise France, working closely with AFD, CI-ENERGIES, the Directorate General for Energy and the Delegation of the European Union to Abidjan. These activities include:
• Conducting a diagnostic of the situation in terms of supply and demand for electrical equipment and financial services, including capitalisation on similar experiences
• Implementing a decision-making process to prioritise the project activities with the Ivorian stakeholders
• Implementing a selection process for recipients of a financial allocation, entrusted to Expertise France by AFD, with the Ivorian stakeholders
• Concluding contracts and monitoring the agreements signed with the recipients of the financial allocation, with fund management and a monitoring and restructuring process.
The activities implemented will achieve the following outcomes:
• An improvement in the provision of electrical products and related services in the geographical areas targeted by the project, with prospects for extension beyond them
• The creation of synergies with the economic and social operators which did not operate in certain areas covered by the project
• The promotion of energy-efficient electrical equipment.
