In 2014, the government of Senegal established the Plan Senegal Emergent (PSE) Program, a 20-year economic development plan implemented to increase access to high-quality electrical services for households and businesses in Senegal. As part of its PSE initiative to address disparities in access to electricity between rural and urban households, the government of Senegal introduced three projects designed to strengthen governance of the power sector by reforming their legal and regulation framework, improve electricity access in select urban and peri-urban areas by extending and reinforcing the electrical grid, and improving utility service delivery by strengthening the high-voltage transmission network adjacent to Dakar. IBTCI was selected by the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to support its efforts in promoting the Access Project, a joint-effort which encouraged households in the Tambacounda, Kolda, Sedhiou, Fatick, and Kaolack regions of Senegal to connect their households to Senegal’s electricity grid. IBTCI conducted qualitative research to contextualize behaviors of electricity users within Senegal and to determine if gender dynamics influenced connection decisions. In total, IBTCI conducted 68 key informant interviews (KIIs) with farmers, business owners, village chiefs, household members, and women.
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