Measuring the impact of decentralized electricity projects: a triangulation approach

There are two primary lessons to be drawn from the data available in CoSMMA. The first is that projects seeking to increase the uptake of very low-power equipment have little chance of lasting success. Success for projects of this type will involve construction of mini-grids, not individual solutions, and therefore require collective action at the local level. The second lesson, informed by this first observation, concerns the importance accorded to questions of governance. Bottom-up governance models are more likely to succeed than top-down approaches. Lastly, good quality regulation of the sector increases the probability that the project will succeed. However, this conclusion also serves to highlight the lack of available data on the local governance structures overseeing these projects.