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|Country|kWh<sup>a</sup>|Ratio<sup>b</sup>|Comments|
|---|---|---|---|
|Mauritius|25|1.39|Increasingblock tariff|
|**Mozambique**|100|2.34|Cannot exceed 100 kWh a month;no fixed charge|
|Namibia|n.a.|n.a.|There are 5 schedules of a single block each with no limits on<br>consumption.|
|**Niger**|50|1.33|Increasingblock tariff|
|**Nigeria**|50|3.68|Cannot exceed 50 kWh a month|
|**Rwanda**|n.a.|n.a.|Single schedule,single block|
|**São Tomé and Príncipe **|100|1.47|volume‐differentiated tariff|
|**Senegal**|75|1.07|Increasingblock tariff|
|Seychelles|200|1.19|Increasingblock tariff|
|**Sierra Leone**|30|1.43|Increasingblock tariff|
|**South Africa**<sup>c</sup>|500|1.14|Increasingblock tariff|
|**Swaziland**|n.a.|n.a.|2 schedules of single block each|
|**Tanzania**|75|3.50|Increasingblock tariff|
|**Togo**|40|1.57|Exceeding 40 kWh a month moves the consumer to another schedule<br>subject to 18% VAT|
|**Uganda**|15|3.45|Increasingblock tariff|
|**Zambia**|100|2.07|Increasingblock tariff|
|Zimbabwe|50|5.50|Increasingblock tariff|

_Source_ : Utility and regulator websites and reports, and World Bank staff calculations.

_Note_ : Names of countries with household survey data are shown in bold. “Cannot exceed so many kWh a month” means that the lifeline rate does not apply if monthly consumption exceeds the limit, and the entire consumption is charged a higher tariff, instead of increasing block tariffs. n.a. = not applicable.

a. The monthly size of a tariff subject to a lifeline rate, or the size of the first block when there are two or more blocks. Some countries have multiple schedules, each of which has a single block. Senegal defines the size of the consumption blocks over two months. The first block is 150 kWh over two months, shown here as 75 kWh a month.

b. The ratio of the effective energy charge, inclusive of ad valorem tax such as VAT but exclusive of fixed charges and taxes applied to fixed charges, between the second block (or the second level of service if there are several schedules of a single block each with increasing installed capacity).

c. These numbers are for Johannesburg. Depending on eligibility, poor households are provided with 50, 100, or 150 kWh of free electricity a month in Johannesburg.

To the extent that subsidies for the poor are offered, all countries use some measure of consumption (kWh a month, amperage, or kilovolt‐amperes) as a proxy for income. One exception is Johannesburg in South Africa, where the city calculates a poverty index for each household based on income and other indicators and offers three different levels of free electricity—currently 50, 100, and 150 kWh a month—depending on the poverty index.

The most common lifeline block size is 50 kWh (8 countries), followed by 25, 75, and 100 kWh (3 countries each). Eight countries have lifeline blocks up to 40 kWh, and five are 25 kWh or smaller. In these five countries, the lifeline block is not sufficient to meet the daily electricity need in tier 3 of the multi‐tier access framework; all five except Benin have increasing block tariffs. Increasing block tariffs at least allow poor households to enjoy a large price subsidy for the first block. South Africa, represented by the tariff schedule in Johannesburg, may appear as having an exceptionally large first block, followed by The Gambia. However, many municipalities in South Africa offer free electricity to the poor—such as 25, 50, 60, 100, and 150 kWh a month—depending on eligibility criteria (for example, prepaid lifeline customers consuming less than 250 kWh a month based on a 12‐month average can receive 60 kWh of free electricity a month in Cape Town, falling to 25 kWh for consumption of up to 450 kWh a month on average), which differ by municipality. An interesting case is Cameroon, which has increasing block tariffs but where the unit energy charge in the