2

# **Contents**

|Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................................ 2|
|---|
|Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3|
|Scope and Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 5|
|Cross‐Regional Perspective ......................................................................................................................... 11|
|Descriptive Statistics ................................................................................................................................... 12|
|Measuring Access in Household Surveys .................................................................................................... 12|
|Spending on Electricity ................................................................................................................................ 15|
|Charges for Grid Electricity Use and Connection ........................................................................................ 17|
|Affordability of Electricity ........................................................................................................................... 21|
|Grid‐electricity affordability at the subsistence level of consumption ........................................................... 21|
|Affordability at higher levels of consumption ................................................................................................ 25|
|Grid‐electricity poverty measures .................................................................................................................. 25|
|Subsidy to make the subsistence level of electricity affordable to all ............................................................ 27|
|Relationships between access, poverty, and quasi‐fiscal deficits................................................................... 28|
|Affordability of connection costs .................................................................................................................... 30|
|Community versus Household Access ........................................................................................................ 33|
|No spending on grid electricity ................................................................................................................... 35|
|Multiple Connections .................................................................................................................................. 37|
|Outages ....................................................................................................................................................... 38|
|Gender of Head of Household .................................................................................................................... 39|
|Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................. 42|
|Annex .......................................................................................................................................................... 46|
|References .................................................................................................................................................. 68|

# Abbreviations

GDP gross domestic product kWh kilowatt‐hour(s) VAT value‐added tax