Sierra Leone

Getting Electricity in

Sierra Leone

Listed below are the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Name of Utility: National Power Authority
  • City: Freetown

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Submit application letter to National Power Authority (NPA) and await site inspection

First the applicant should submit a letter to the General Manager of NPA requesting the services and explaining the need and reason for such capacity. General Manager will forward the request to the distribution department of NPA. NPA distribution department will contact the applicant in order to schedule a site inspection (It will take around two weeks to have the visit of the inspector but if you provide transportation for the inspector the wait time can be reduced). NPA inspectors will visit the site in order to have a clear assessment of the area. Inspectors after the inspection will produce an estimate cost of connection and installation of the service and a list of materials required for connection (materials required and labor cost). It takes 3 to 4 days to prepare the estimate. The estimate can either be picked up from the utility or it will be mailed.

Agency: National Power Authority 		10 calendar days no charge
* 2 Receive site inspection from NPA



Agency: National Power Authority 		1 calendar day SLL 5,000.0
3 Submit application form to NPA and await estimate

Customer should go to an NPA agency and fill out the application form along with Contractor Application Certificate and pay the estimate. Estimate covers: transportation cost; direct cost; inspection fee ( already done ); meter cost plus cost of transformer. Applicant pays work estimate cost at the Customer Service Section NPA, Electricity House. Applicant is issued receipt. Customer presents receipt at the Management Accounts section NPA where Applicant is issued a Job Number. Utility obtains excavation permit from the Sierra Leone Authority.

Agency: National Power Authority 		14 calendar days SLL 8,263,000.0
4 Purchase material and request inspection from NPA

When the customer receives the estimate, he also receives a list of materials that he needs to purchase in order to start the work. NPA is not able to provide the materials, for that reason applicant needs to purchase them on his own in any specialized store. (note: there is not a particular store) .

Agency: National Power Authority 		18 calendar days SLL 22,425,000.0
5 NPA conducts inspection of materials

NPA conducts a inspection of the material to confirm that they of standard quality. These materials are then used by NPA for external connection works.

Agency: National Power Authority 		4 calendar days no charge
6 Customer receives Job Number from NPA and presents to NPA customer service to receive New Customer Account deposit and pay security deposit

The Job Number is presented at the Customer Service section NPA House where applicant is prepared a New Customer Account Deposit. Applicant pays customer accounts deposit.

Agency: National Power Authority 		1 calendar day no charge
7 NPA conducts internal wiring inspection and commences external connection

Before starting external connection, utility conducts internal wiring inspection. After this inspection, NPA will start the work in order to bring electricity to the warehouse.

Agency: National Power Authority 		60 calendar days SLL 1,414,000.0
8 NPA conducts external inspection, installation of meter and electricity starts flowing

Regarding the internal wiring of the warehouse, it is the responsibility of the applicant to set up the internal wiring of the warehouse. The applicant should hire a certified electrician (see survey) in order to set up the internal wiring and certify that the internal wiring is in compliance with NPA standards . (Same cost NPA)
Applicant’s form is again sent back to Meter and Test section where based on the report of inspectors, a suitable meter is selected and tested. Meter is
taken to site and installed. Transmission line bought by applicant is connected to the power line, electricity starts flowing. It takes NPA Meter section days to select a suitable meter and have it thoroughly tested before installation is done. Actual installation work at the site lasts for only a few hours.

Agency: National Power Authority 		30 calendar days no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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