Video: In Ghana, Solar-Powered Mini-Grids Bring Security and New Economic Opportunities

Ghana provides electricity for 83% of its population, the second highest rate in Sub-Saharan Africa, but connecting isolated areas to the grid has proved very difficult. The solution: investing in solar-powered mini-grids like this one, built with support from IDA, the World Bank Group's fund for the poorest. In the towns around the Volta River, 10,000 Ghanaians now enjoy uninterrupted power, which enhances security and brings new economic opportunities. "It was difficult operating my business when we didn't have access to electricity. I can now work at night and my business has greatly improved", says seamstress Agather Abotse.

GPRBA supplemented the IDA-funded mini-grids in Ghana by helping finance the purchase of stand-alone solar home systems to even more isolated communities where mini-grids and grid extension would take several years to arrive. Eventually, GPRBA's intervention provided 16,500 isolated households in rural areas with reliable and affordable electricity for the first time.