[{"bbox": [72, 106, 370, 136], "category": "Section-header", "text": "### 3.5. The Intervention Logic"}, {"bbox": [83, 150, 1170, 257], "category": "Text", "text": "The underlying intervention logic for the action is that Sierra Leone has to achieve broad-based, sustainable economic growth and diversification in order to maintain the prospect of a resilient, prosperous and peaceful future. Economic green growth and diversification allow its population to reach a minimum level of social safety, while preserving the ecological foundations of its agriculture dominated economy."}, {"bbox": [83, 282, 1170, 416], "category": "Text", "text": "Central to this is a progressive economic transformation from low productivity, limited industrialisation, subsistence agriculture and low-value services to higher productivity, product diversification and a greater role of manufacturing and higher-value services. The economic dominance of the agriculture sector, on the one hand, and the import dependency for foodstuff, on the other, provide a potential not only for professionalising agriculture and expanding agro-processing but also for adjacent economic sectors such as manufacturing and services."}, {"bbox": [83, 441, 1170, 602], "category": "Text", "text": "The strategic approach builds on stimulating a virtuous cycle of (1) improved energy supply (2) progressive economic transformation through productive use of energy and (3) increased use of renewable energy, particularly for productive services to increase its affordability. The action will reinforce the current dynamic of mini grids installation, strengthening the energy-transformation nexus through expanding the availability and use of energy in productive sectors (especially, but not exclusively, services and agricultural value chains) while promoting economic activities with higher productivity and higher value. This is expected to play a key role for increasing supply and demand."}, {"bbox": [83, 627, 1170, 681], "category": "Text", "text": "In order to develop and sustain this virtuous cycle, the action will address key binding constraints simultaneously, in particular the key constraints to productivity:"}, {"bbox": [121, 681, 587, 707], "category": "List-item", "text": "(i) Lack of infrastructure, in particular energy"}, {"bbox": [121, 707, 751, 732], "category": "List-item", "text": "(ii) Underdeveloped skills in the labour force and business skills"}, {"bbox": [121, 734, 676, 760], "category": "List-item", "text": "(iii) Lack of access to finance for small entrepreneurship"}, {"bbox": [83, 760, 1170, 866], "category": "Text", "text": "At household and community level, expanding sustainable energy consumption will raise standards of living. Against the background of existing pronounced gender gaps in terms of access to political and economic participation, as well as education and pay, the action will give particular attention to gender aspects and the economic empowerment of women. The ecological footprint of solar devices will be addressed as well."}, {"bbox": [83, 892, 1170, 1077], "category": "Text", "text": "The objective and result areas of the action reflect this multidimensional approach and its implementation will capitalise on the specific experience of the implementing partners. The underlying assumptions are limited to fundamentals: relative macroeconomic stability and absence of major economic shocks. These can be reasonably expected to hold true to a large extent. The effectiveness will be reinforced through a result oriented policy and political dialogue on public policy actions to improve the enabling environment for private sector, especially for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs as well as accelerating economic diversification and strengthening governance. The continuous involvement of local communities and local authorities will re-inforce the relevance and sustainability of the action."}, {"bbox": [83, 1104, 1170, 1290], "category": "Text", "text": "The efficiency and the sustainability will be enhanced through the involvement of the private sector to invest in the sector and operate the mini-grids. Thus, the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) of the mini-grids will be co-financed by the operators and the action. However, in accordance with the \"leave no one behind principle\", around 20% of the mini-grids could be fully funded by the action in places where the consumption potential would be too low to request private sector co-investment. In the same line, access to renewable energy solutions for populations around the mini grid areas that are hard to reach will be also supported. Partnerships with private suppliers of electric appliances will be sought. Synergies with EFSD+ and regional programmes working in the same sector will also be sought."}, {"bbox": [1041, 1664, 1159, 1688], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 10 of 19"}]