The Sustainabilist | RAMADAN
FEATURE
Why Energy and Water Access Matters Across Africa Energy and water are the enablers of economic and social development
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n March of last year, the World Bank put out a report on electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa. The study measured how people were both able and unable to access electricity by region and country. The findings were a wakeup call for policy makers. Much of Africa is lagging when it comes to the public’s ability to access the energy grid. On average, only 43% of people in Africa have
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access to electricity, which is just over half the global access rate of 87%. The report also warned that this percentage isn’t likely to shift, given Africa’s population growth. For many of us, the thought of living without uninterrupted access to electricity and water is unimaginable. But it’s a reality for hundreds of millions of people across emerging markets. The lack of access to
electricity dramatically alters people’s quality of life; it also holds back economic growth and educational opportunities. There are two core challenges when it comes to ensuring universal access to energy and water. The first is connecting remote locations to the grid. For marginal communities which are positioned far away from urban centers, the cost of bringing
