Rethinking Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why we Should Stop Counting and Start Thinking Big

If African nations want to see their economies transform, the issue of electricity must be tackled head-on. Expansion needs investment too, and for that, utilities must recover their costs. Yet all over the region utilities are running at a loss. T...

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Main Author:	World Bank
Format:	Brief
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2019
Subjects:	ELECTRICITY RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ACCESS TO ENERGY SERVICE DELIVERY ENERGY TECHNOLOGY ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/600701562230941593/Rethinking-Electrification-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-Why-we-Should-Stop-Counting-and-Start-Thinking-Big http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32118

id	okr-10986-32118
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-321182021-06-14T10:06:42Z Rethinking Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why we Should Stop Counting and Start Thinking Big World Bank ELECTRICITY RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ACCESS TO ENERGY SERVICE DELIVERY ENERGY TECHNOLOGY ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY If African nations want to see their economies transform, the issue of electricity must be tackled head-on. Expansion needs investment too, and for that, utilities must recover their costs. Yet all over the region utilities are running at a loss. This report takes a broader look at the issue to show that the problem in Africa is not power but poverty. It shows that affordability, reliability, and coordination are the missing links to making utilities financially viable and expanding their consumer base. The report emphasizes that access to electricity cannot be a stand-alone goal. Policymakers must rethink their approach to electrification by placing the productive use of electrification at center stage. Given the resource constraints, governments need to coordinate investments in other aspects of their infrastructure at the same time as they invest in electricity. Policies and programs need to focus on improving access to markets through better roads and expanding credit for new businesses. In this way, electricity can energize agriculture in rural areas and industry in urban areas. This report shows that, to generate income, create jobs, and alleviate poverty in Africa, electricity has to be part of a package. 2019-07-17T20:08:15Z 2019-07-17T20:08:15Z 2019 Brief http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/600701562230941593/Rethinking-Electrification-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-Why-we-Should-Stop-Counting-and-Start-Thinking-Big http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32118 English World Bank Policy Brief; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	ELECTRICITY RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ACCESS TO ENERGY SERVICE DELIVERY ENERGY TECHNOLOGY ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY
spellingShingle	ELECTRICITY RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ACCESS TO ENERGY SERVICE DELIVERY ENERGY TECHNOLOGY ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY World Bank Rethinking Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why we Should Stop Counting and Start Thinking Big
geographic_facet	Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
relation	World Bank Policy Brief;
description	If African nations want to see their economies transform, the issue of electricity must be tackled head-on. Expansion needs investment too, and for that, utilities must recover their costs. Yet all over the region utilities are running at a loss. This report takes a broader look at the issue to show that the problem in Africa is not power but poverty. It shows that affordability, reliability, and coordination are the missing links to making utilities financially viable and expanding their consumer base. The report emphasizes that access to electricity cannot be a stand-alone goal. Policymakers must rethink their approach to electrification by placing the productive use of electrification at center stage. Given the resource constraints, governments need to coordinate investments in other aspects of their infrastructure at the same time as they invest in electricity. Policies and programs need to focus on improving access to markets through better roads and expanding credit for new businesses. In this way, electricity can energize agriculture in rural areas and industry in urban areas. This report shows that, to generate income, create jobs, and alleviate poverty in Africa, electricity has to be part of a package.
format	Brief
author	World Bank
author_facet	World Bank
author_sort	World Bank
title	Rethinking Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why we Should Stop Counting and Start Thinking Big
title_short	Rethinking Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why we Should Stop Counting and Start Thinking Big
title_full	Rethinking Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why we Should Stop Counting and Start Thinking Big
title_fullStr	Rethinking Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why we Should Stop Counting and Start Thinking Big
title_full_unstemmed	Rethinking Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why we Should Stop Counting and Start Thinking Big
title_sort	rethinking electrification in sub-saharan africa : why we should stop counting and start thinking big
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2019
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/600701562230941593/Rethinking-Electrification-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-Why-we-Should-Stop-Counting-and-Start-Thinking-Big http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32118
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Rethinking Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why we Should Stop Counting and Start Thinking Big

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