Who Uses Electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa? Findings from Household Surveys

Abstract

This paper is a product of the Energy and Extractives Global Practice Group. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world.

Social Innovation for Sustainable Urban Developmental Transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging Economic Ecosystems and the Entrepreneurial State

“…With respect to stabilizing middle class African household budgets, a key intervention point can be identified by acknowledging that between 50% and 70% of household budgets of the poor is spent on food, water, energy [45] (including transportation [46]), with food alone averaging above 50%. This is commonly referred to in development literature as the "nexus" [47] and, while it mainly pertains to poor African households, it is also significant for the African middle class, who in reality are precarious and earn significantly less than the global middle class (as discussed earlier in Section 2).…”

Counting the cost: Coping with tariff increases amidst power supply shortfalls in urban households in Ethiopia

“…However, for households with unpredictable incomes and can only afford to purchase units in small quantities, the prepaid meter represents a different form of inconvenience. More importantly, where service quality is poor, prepaid customers are particularly vulnerable, as they are being asked to pay in advance for electricity that may not be delivered when needed [71].…”

Making Power Affordable for Africa and Viable for Its Utilities

“…As to the poverty gap itself, the situation in many African countries in 2012 closely resembled that of the rest of the world in 1990. When the poverty gap and access data from 2012 in Africa are overlaid with those from 1990 in other regions, Africa still falls below the global trend (Kojima et al 2016). Statistical analysis using these economic parameters shows that, everything else being equal, living in Africa reduces the likelihood of a household having access to electricity.…”

“…Two appendixes present the sources, methodology, and assumptions underlying the study. For full details, see Trimble et al (2016); Kojima et al (2016); Kojima, Bacon, and Trimble (2014); and companion Excel files (www.worldbank.org/ affordableviablepowerforafrica).…”

“…The dotted line represents the parent company that owns the two companies in the sector. For full details, see Kojima et al (2016).…”