Electricity access: whats the big deal?
Around the world about 1.3 billion people still live
without electricity. Most of this population resides in the developing parts of
the world. Out of this 1.3 billion about 84% live in rural areas (IEA,2011). We have all seen and heard these numbers
several times. The lack of electricity access is being seen as a problem, an
issue that needs to be tackled seriously.
But what is the big
deal? What if some people do not have electricity access? What difference does
it make? They still survive. They have other forms of energy like biomass.
Rural population in some countries have always moulded their daily
life according to sun. They go to bed early and they rise early. So, why make
electricity a big deal.
Electricity and development seem have a very deep
relation. Electricity not only powers economic growth by industrial development
but also social development by providing lighting services for education and
health services. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in the assessment
of the holistic development of countries through the Human Development Index
(HDI), takes 4 basic indicators into account. These are (UNDP,2011):
- life expectancy at birth
- mean years of schooling
- expected years of schooling
- gross national income per capita
Clearly, the stress is on health, education and
economic development. However, in September 2000, the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) emerged through the United Nations Millennium Declaration(UN,2000). These set new
parameters by including eradication of extreme poverty, universal primary
education, gender equality and women empowerment, reduction of child mortality,
improvement of maternal health, combating major diseases and ensuring
environmental sustainability. Again economic development, social development
and health were under the spotlight.
This was about
development goals, but how are these related to electricity. Well, it is
noteworthy that this 1.4 billion population resides in the world's poorest
regions, namely Sub-Saharan Africa and Developing
Asia. Also is noteworthy the connection between HDI (Human Development
Index) and per capita electricity use, as shown in the figure below.

HDI vs per capita electricity use |
Does this signal a
connection, a nexus between electricity and development? Well it may be so. The
combination of the trends above with the discussion on HDI and MDGs may give us
some indication of the importance of electricity and electricity access for
holistic development.
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