Start date
Duration
1 year
Countries
Lebanon
Client
SOAS-ACE
Funder
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
TPP Team Members
Additional Members
Muzna Al Masri
Ali Ahmad
Arev Papazian
Marc Ayoub

SOAS Anti-Corruption Evidence research in Lebanon

The Policy Practice delivered a one year research project on anti-corruption innovations in the electricity sector in Lebanon as part of the SOAS Anti-Corruption Evidence research programme funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Developmeny Office. 

Lebanon has one of the most corrupt and dysfunctional electricity systems in the world; its utility –Electricite du Liban (EDL)– is one of the worst performing and most loss-making utilities in the region. Extensive blackouts force consumers to subscribe to private generators, often owned by local ‘mafia’, hugely increasing costs for consumers. The situation has deteriorated even further due to the political and economic crisis facing the country, as well as the catastrophic explosion at Beirut’s port (see our blog on the link between the 2020 explosion, corruption and electricity sector reforms).

However, in the town of Zahle, the local utility, has managed to push out private generator owners and establish a high quality, reliable 24/7 electricity service. Working with researchers from the American University of Beirut, TPP Director Dr. Neil McCulloch explored the political economy that enabled this reform to happen. Instead of a shining example of anti-corruption reform, we find a more complex and murky story of how key actors have navigated an extremely challenging political terrain to achieve better service delivery. The project drew out lessons about what kinds of reform are politically feasible in the Lebanese context and which might be replicable elsewhere.

A podcast - Risk Reduction as Anti-Corruption To Power Up The Electricity Sector, co-written by Neil McCulloch and Muzna Al-Masri, can be listened to here