Feature Story: When the Lights Went Out

At 3am, Mariam Hassan was on a labor bed when the clinic went dark. The solar panels outside the Munje dispensary had been catching the sun all day, but at night—just as her delivery began—the system failed. Mariam, who has hearing and speaking disabilities, could not hear the reassurances around her. Her mother watched as nurses switched on a single cell phone to light the room. That phone became the delivery lamp.

A Widespread Problem Hidden in Plain Sight

The failure at Munje, a coastal village in Kenya, was not due to a lack of investment. Solar panels, inverters, and batteries had been installed a few years earlier. For a while, they worked. Then the batteries failed and were not replaced. Complaints were sent to central ministries. Nothing happened.

This story echoes across sub-Saharan Africa, where schools and health centers in rural or remote areas are rarely connected to the network. Grid extension and mini grids are often technically or financially unviable, leaving stand-alone solar systems as the most cost-effective option. Yet many solar systems fail within two to three years or even a few months, not because the technology is flawed, but because operation and maintenance are neglected. When power fails, vaccinations spoil as cold chains break; oxygen concentrators stop; computers go dark; and patients simply stop coming at night.

“When power goes off in a health facility, there is total disorder in most of the cases because they are not able to do basic things, and if it is at night, it becomes very difficult for even the patients to come.”
Sitra Mulepo, former Senior Engineer, Mechanical, Uganda Ministry of Health

From “Install-and-Forget” to Service That Delivers

The new report issued by the World Bank Group’s ESMAP, entitled “Sustainable Energy for Schools and Health Centers: Public–Private Partnerships for People’s Prosperity,” argues for a fundamental shift: from procuring solar equipment to buying electricity as a service.

Instead of paying contractors to install systems and walk away, governments would engage private providers through long-term, performance-based contracts. If the system fails, revenue stops—creating a strong incentive to respond quickly, replace batteries, and keep systems running.

The report shows that this service-based model is possible. World Bank Group pilots in Africa, including Uganda’s Electricity Access Scale-Up Project, demonstrate that public financing can successfully leverage private expertise and ensure sustainability. The project is a $638 million initiative over five years, aimed at increasing energy access for households, commercial enterprises, and public institutions. The project targets 3 million new connections by 2027 using both on-grid expansion and off-grid solar solutions.

“Sustainability is one of the biggest challenges we have with solar system installations, especially in public facilities. It’s a discussion that should be had at the very beginning when you are framing the entire design of the project. It shouldn’t be something that you do once you’ve done the installation.”
Sarah Kanda, former Project Manager, Energy 4 Impact

Why This is Urgent

Reliable electricity for public institutions—especially schools and health centers—is central to achieving all global development goals and lies at the core of the World Bank Group’s priorities on job creation, access to electricity, and agribusiness. 

“When the school had no electricity, teachers came to school late because with out lights, they couldn’t teach in the morning. Now that we have electricity in our school, we have made academic progress because we come early in the morning.”
Mwanasiti Mwalela, student, Antorita Primary School

For Mariam Hassan and millions like her, solar power is an essential first step—but what matters just as much is ensuring, through proper maintenance, that the electricity remains available when it is needed most.