Post-Connection Electricity Access Complexities in Eswatini: Household Energy Stacking

Abstract

High electrification rates can conceal persistent forms of energy poverty when access is measured as a grid/no-grid condition. This study examines electricity access as a situated and post-connection process in Eswatini, a small, landlocked country with a comparatively high electrification rate, strong import dependence on South Africa and uneven rural/peri-urban energy practices. Drawing on mixed-methods fieldwork in two rural communities and two peri-urban informal settlements, and on a 2017 Population and Housing Census enumeration-area (EA) energy dataset, the paper demonstrates that electricity access is shaped by affordability, reliability, repair geographies and the availability of alternative fuels. The findings demonstrate that grid connection does not necessarily translate into sufficient energy access: electricity is widely used for lighting and phone charging, while cooking remains strongly differentiated by place. Nationally, the EA data show much higher electricity use for lighting than for cooking, and a pronounced rural dependence on firewood. Qualitative data indicate that rural households with grid connections continued to rely heavily on firewood, while peri-urban households combined electricity with propane, paraffin and candles. The paper contributes to critical energy geographies by theorising Eswatini as a liminal energy geography positioned between South Africa's grid-centred electricity system and the off-grid/pay-as-you-go solar regimes more prominent in eastern and parts of southern Africa. It argues that energy access research and policy must move beyond infrastructural connection, towards sufficiency, reliability, affordability and clean-cooking transitions that reflect the spatial and relational realities of household energy use.