Societies cannot develop without electricity. Yet so many people do without it. In Africa, only about 20% of people have direct access to electricity, and in some countries it is only 5%. Even in Africa’s cities, electrification rates are lower there than any other continent. Yet there are also millions in Asia and Latin America who work by daylight and firelight.
Solutions here may never rely on grids, given vast distances and low population densities. Villages and homes may need isolated solar cells, biogas digesters and wind turbines. It may require new and improved technologies, but it will certainly need new partnerships among governments, companies and citizens’ groups to disseminate the technologies.
