Consumer’s Perception of the Quality of Electricity Supply in Côte d’Ivoire: The Case of Households and Very Small Enterprises (VSES)

Abstract

Though Electricity quality is important for development and economic growth, its performance remains relatively low in Côte d'Ivoire due to many factors such as grid aging, lack of necessary investment program, etc. This paper analyzes consumer's endorsement and willingness to pay (WTP) for an improved quality of electricity service. This matter is all the more important required investment for improving electricity quality that should be supported by consumers. Therefore, by using contingent valuation method, 1073 households and 98 Very Small Enterprises (VSEs) in 4 cities of the south-east of Côte d'Ivoire have been interviewed. Data have been analyzed by using, Chi square, correlations and OLS methods. The findings highlight that, neither households nor VSEs endorse to pay more for an improved quality of electricity for various reasons such as low income. For instance, 59.7% of household respondents do not endorse by mentioning having other priorities related to shelter, food, clothes or health. In the same way, VSEs mentioned their low incomes and tax level, etc. Moreover, the average amount of electricity bill and the willingness to accept (WTA) in compensation of abusive outages have a positive effect on household's WTP. Idem, the number of sensitive equipment, the willingness to accept in compensation of abusive outage and the cost per hour incurred by VSEs have a positive effect on the WTP. The average value of household's WTP is XOF 1003.07 and their WTA for outages lasting more than six hours is XOF 1595.41. The average value of VSE's WTP is XOF 4130.95 and their WTA in compensation of outages lasting more than two hours is XOF 4546.15.