The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $391m Benin Power Compact has delivered significant reforms to sector regulation and Benin’s transmission and distribution network since the US government-funded facility came into force in 2017. On-grid and off-grid solar PV schemes are expected to be agreed in the near future, which project sources believe will radically alter Benin’s generation mix, reduce the cost of electricity and raise access levels, while also encouraging further private sector involvement, writes Marc Howard