10 years after: Long-term adoption of electricity in rural Rwanda

Lise Masselus, Jörg Peters, Gabriel Gonzalez Sutil, Vijay Modi, Joel Mugyenyi, Anicet Munyehirwe, Nathan Williams and Maximiliane Sievert

No 1086, Ruhr Economic Papers from RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract: Extending the power grid into hitherto unconnected areas is high on the policy agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, connection rates and electricity consumption remain low in grid connected areas, at least in the short and medium run. This paper provides a long-term follow-up on an evaluation of a large-scale grid extension program in rural Rwanda. We study the adoption of grid electricity over time using a panel of 41 communities that were electrified up to ten years ago. We find that connection rates for households living near the grid increased from 62% in 2013 to 82% in 2022. At the wider community level, connection rates are much lower, at 51%. Furthermore, electricity consumption and appliance usage are low and did not grow over time. We corroborate these findings with administrative consumption data from the utility customer data base. Our findings suggest that investments into gridbased rural electrification cannot be justified by economic development impacts and cost-benefit considerations.

Keywords: Energy access; energy consumption; energy use; electricity; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H54 L94 O12 O13 O18 Q41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-ene and nep-inv
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:rwirep:300563

DOI: 10.4419/96973261

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