The Economic Burden of Unreliable Electricity Supply for Businesses in Benin

The study finds that unreliable power supply in Benin forces businesses to invest in defensive measures, with extra costs accounting for 44% of total electricity expenditures. These costs, primarily driven by power generator operations, push an additional 5% of businesses into a state of 'electricity burden' (spending >10% of revenue on power). The burden is most prevalent among informal businesses, home-based enterprises, and those in the production sector.

• Extra costs associated with defensive strategies to combat power outages and voltage fluctuations represent a substantial portion of total electricity spending for businesses in Benin, averaging 44%.
• The primary driver of extra electricity costs is the operational expense of power generators, which accounts for 67% of these additional costs and averages FCFA 211,569 (USD 357) per month.
• Accounting for extra costs increases the prevalence of electricity burden among businesses; while 55% face a burden based on electricity bills alone, this rises to 60% when defensive costs are included.
• Businesses in the informal sector are significantly more likely to experience an electricity burden than those in the formal sector, with a 22% higher likelihood based on the EB1 metric.
• The likelihood of facing an electricity burden is positively correlated with the value of production equipment, the age of the business manager, and the presence of voltage fluctuations.
• The timing of power outages affects the financial burden, with businesses experiencing evening blackouts being approximately 16% less likely to face an electricity burden than those facing midday outages.
• High extra connection fees for power are linked to a higher susceptibility to electricity burden issues.
• Defensive strategies themselves increase the measured burden: businesses using generators are approximately 21.6% to 25.1% more likely to experience an electricity burden when extra costs are factored in.

APA

Dato, P., Hekponhoue, S., Lawson, L., Mukhaya, B., & Okyere, M. A. (2025). The Economic Burden of Unreliable Electricity Supply for Businesses in Benin. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/11161253/economic-burden-electricity-supply-businesses-benin.pdf

Chicago

Dato, Prudence, Sylvain Hekponhoue, Laté Lawson, Brian Mukhaya, and Michael Adu Okyere. The Economic Burden of Unreliable Electricity Supply for Businesses in Benin. Clean Air Task Force, 2025. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/11161253/economic-burden-electricity-supply-businesses-benin.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dato |first1=Prudence |last2=Hekponhoue |first2=Sylvain |last3=Lawson |first3=Laté |last4=Mukhaya |first4=Brian |last5=Okyere |first5=Michael Adu |title=The Economic Burden of Unreliable Electricity Supply for Businesses in Benin |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=August 2025 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/11161253/economic-burden-electricity-supply-businesses-benin.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dato2025economic, author = {Dato, Prudence and Hekponhoue, Sylvain and Lawson, Laté and Mukhaya, Brian and Okyere, Michael Adu}, title = {{The Economic Burden of Unreliable Electricity Supply for Businesses in Benin}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = aug, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/11161253/economic-burden-electricity-supply-businesses-benin.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }