Lesotho may affect a specific indicator comparison. Nevertheless, since the indicators presented here are widely accepted and fairly unambiguous representations of major dimensions of sector performance, we believe that the benchmarking and comparisons are sufficiently meaningful that could prove indicative in further analytical and policy-oriented studies of Lesotho’s infrastructure performance. Another caveat is that available data indicators for Lesotho are more limited than, for example, in the case of South Africa. As a result, the comparative exercise for Lesotho is inevitably more limited in scope, focusing more on _access_ . Indicator availability for Lesotho is as follows: two indicators for electricity (access and prices), two for water and sanitation (both on access), eight for ICT, and four on roads transport. Nevertheless, since access indicators that are critical for poverty reduction are available for all four sectors, some broad comparisons and conclusions can be reached with appropriate caveats.

# **Energy – electricity**

In the electricity sector, the database contains only two indicators: one on access to the electricity network and another on the average end-user prices. The overall picture is very unfavorable (Table 1). On access, Lesotho’s performance is among the worst in the world, even compared with its own income group of countries (low-income), the Sub-Saharan African region, or SACU countries. On affordability, it also ranks very low with some of the highest prices in the world. The two indicators combined suggest that the electricity services in Lesotho serve only a small, privileged segment of the population and the economy that can afford the high service prices. The scope for improvements in electrification, access to the poor, competition, and affordability is substantial.

**_Access:_** Lesotho’s access to electricity network is one of the lowest in the word with only 6% of the population having access (the latest data for Lesotho and other groups are for 2002). This is extremely low, even in comparison to low-income (Lesotho’s income group) countries (31%) and less than of the average access rate in Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole (15%). It is also lower than averages in other world regions. Most recent sector data for Lesotho suggest that access has doubled, reaching 11% in 2005 in part due to the World Bank financed Lesotho Utilities Sector Reform; nevertheless, the overall comparative picture has not changed, and  much more progress needs to be made to reach the 35% access targeted for 2015 (de Barros, 2005). Other studies also recognize that electricity is an important constraint on economic activity. This suggests that even for the segment of the economy that does enjoy access to electricity, the quality of service is low. For example, over a third of companies surveyed in a recent investment climate survey report electricity deficiencies as major constraint (World Bank 20005 b). Within SACU, Lesotho’s access to electricity is by far the lowest (Bogetić and Fedderke 2005 b). Unfortunately, no comparative data exist for access to electricity in rural and urban areas, which would probably show even more dramatic shortfalls in access in rural areas of Lesotho.

in the database. Also, efforts to weight the raw data by population could help enhance the quality of the cross-country comparisons.

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