The World Bank Group has approved a $50 million credit to expand electricity access in Lesotho under the ASCENT programme.
The target is direct: connect nearly 147,000 people and businesses to electricity through a mix of grid expansion and off-grid solar systems. The project sits within a broader regional effort linked to Mission 300, which aims to expand electricity access across Eastern and Southern Africa.
Lesotho has made progress, but the gap remains clear. Electrification has grown from 7% in 2004 to 59% in 2024. Rural areas remain far behind urban centres. Grid expansion alone cannot close that gap at current speed.
ASCENT shifts the approach. It combines three layers:
- grid extension in peri-urban and rural zones
- standalone solar systems for remote households
- institutional reforms inside the energy sector
Dinara Djoldosheva, World Bank Country Representative for Lesotho, pointed to the country’s renewable resources—solar, wind, and hydropower—as a base for long-term supply security and economic activity.
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The government, through Finance Minister Retselisitsoe Matlanyane, linked electricity access directly to income, business activity, and service delivery. The structure is clear: electricity is not treated as infrastructure alone. It is treated as economic access.
By Thuita Gatero, Managing Editor, Africa Digest News.
