In 2023, electricity consumption in Benin was just 130 kWh per person—about 3% of the global average of 3,853 kWh per person, or roughly one-thirtieth as much. Domestic low-carbon electricity generation was only about 2 kWh per person. The supplied figures do not provide a complete breakdown of fossil-fuel electricity and imported electricity, so their shares of consumption cannot be established. Nevertheless, clean domestic generation was clearly very limited. Such low electricity availability can constrain healthcare, education, refrigeration and business development, while leaving little scope for expanding electricity use in transport and industry.

Is Electricity Growing in Benin?

Benin’s electricity consumption has not yet returned to its previous peak: the 2023 level of 130 kWh per person was slightly below the record of 136 kWh reached in 2021. This stagnation is concerning when greater electricity availability is needed to support development and future demand. Low-carbon generation, however, showed encouraging progress, rising from a previous record of about 1 kWh per person in 2021 to about 2 kWh in 2023. That is approximately a doubling, although from an extremely small base, and much faster clean electricity growth is needed.

Suggestions

Benin should prioritize expanding solar electricity through utility-scale projects, rooftop installations and mini-grids, alongside stronger electricity networks and storage. South Africa provides a relevant African example, with 19 TWh of solar electricity in the supplied data, while Vietnam’s 29 TWh illustrates the substantial contribution solar can make in a tropical setting. Benin could also assess wind resources and learn from South Africa’s 11 TWh of wind generation. Nuclear electricity deserves consideration within long-term national and regional electricity planning: South Africa generated 11 TWh from nuclear, while Pakistan generated 25 TWh. These examples offer lessons in building technical expertise, institutions and partnerships that could support dependable low-carbon electricity alongside solar.

History

The historical figures show little recorded movement in Benin’s low-carbon electricity generation. From 1997 through 2005, every listed annual change in hydropower generation was zero TWh; the same was true for the listed hydropower observations from 2015 through 2017. Biofuel generation also recorded zero change in each listed year from 2006 through 2009. Solar’s listed changes in 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023 were likewise zero TWh. These figures may be rounded, so they do not necessarily mean that generation was absent or entirely unchanged—particularly given the recent increase measured in kWh per person. Overall, the record highlights the need to move beyond very small increments toward sustained, substantial growth in clean electricity.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade