From Energy Access to Economic Opportunity
Zambia aims to become a prosperous, middle-income country through an aggressive economic diversification and industrialization agenda by 2030. The government recognizes the vital role that energy will play and has put it at the centre of this ambitious goal. Reliable and sustainable access to energy is now a national priority. Currently, more than 50% of the population still lacks access to electricity. In rural areas, only 34% of the population has access to electricity.
Closing this gap requires both institutional commitment and on-the-ground coordination. SEforALL serves as a technical partner to Zambia's Rural Electrification Authority (REA), with an in-country team coordinating three interconnected workstreams:
- Catalytic finance for the mini-grid sector
- Integrated electrification planning and pilot projects
- Technical support and capacity building for REA
Our Projects
SEforALL is working with partners to deliver a comprehensive country programme aligned with Zambia’s national energy and development priorities. The programme has become a trusted partner to the Government of Zambia, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) signed in September 2025. Additionally, we are helping to attract private sector investment and developers while accelerating PUE deployments in rural communities. Our current initiatives are:
Mini-grid projects fail without sustained electricity demand. ZEDSI is a performance-based incentive co-created with partners that encourages mini-grid developers to deploy productive use technologies — agro-processing equipment, irrigation pumps, cold storage — alongside their projects. Incentives are paid on verified increases in electricity consumption. The initiative’s current impact:
• 43 mini-grid projects funded
• 8× increase in electricity consumption by small-and medium-sized companies
• Supported 91 new PUE connections (including milling machines and refrigerators) in 2025
Electrification efforts in Zambia have historically been fragmented. Companies cherry-pick profitable sites, leaving underserved communities behind. The Integrated Framework for Electrification (IFE), developed with the REA, replaces ad hoc grants with a nationally integrated, technology-neutral framework that covers planning, financing, and regulation. The framework aims to:
• Establish a single least-cost national plan combining grid, mini-grid and stand alone solutions
• Support competitive procurement through territorial concessions with 20-year exclusivity
• Build a sustainable tariff and subsidy architecture with regulated returns for investors
• Deliver results-based framework with performance-based incentives and a revenue settlement mechanism.
Why is our work with Zambia important?
With a focus on stimulating productive uses of energy, SEforALL is supporting the creation of sustainable rural economies that ensure the commercial viability of mini-grid developments. SEforALL's approach to integrated electrification planning also helps bridge critical data gaps and fosters a coordinated market development framework that creates a scalable and replicable model for universal energy access.
