Grid connections and inequitable access to electricity in African cities

Abstract

As the Global South rapidly and inequitably urbanizes, cities are at the forefront of efforts to address energy-related dimensions of poverty. In many African cities, electricity via a connection to a grid—the gold standard of electrification—has not substantially displaced smoky, polluting fuels. Among low-income communities, connections tend to be based on improvised, informal arrangements with local intermediaries. The nature and level of access these connections provide is not well understood and cannot be easily measured using existing energy access metrics such as the Multi-Tier Framework. This study provides a grounded, empirical analysis of grid connections across 25 informal settlements in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala. Using a mixed-methods approach that incorporates surveys, interviews and remote power quality monitoring, we trace electrical and financial flows between the utility, supply intermediaries and end users. We identify 29 unique configurations of these flows—which we term service arrangements—that provide electricity of varying and overall limited levels of affordability, reliability, voltage stability, precarity, autonomy and safety. Our evidence suggests that the grid delivers highly inequitable electricity services that fall short of aspirations of modern energy for the city’s most vulnerable communities. To investigate inequalities in energy access, Kersey and co-authors conducted a mixed-method study with 25 informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda. They found that despite the expansion of electrical grids in Sub-Saharan Africa, users are connecting to the grid through a range of service arrangements that are highly differentiated and provide inequitable levels of electricity access.