A friend of mine shared this research paper with me today. Academic papers tend to be very dense so I thought I would skim it and attempt highlight it’s insights and implications for the work NFE is doing in Uganda today.
1. Persistent Inequity in Urban Electricity Access
- Urbanization and Grid Limitations: Despite rapid urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa, the electricity grid struggles to meet the needs of marginalized urban populations, especially in informal settlements. These areas house a significant portion of city dwellers, who often face affordability and legal barriers to formal grid access.
- Continued Reliance on Polluting Fuels: Even where grid connections exist, many low-income urban residents continue to rely on biomass and fossil fuels due to the limited affordability, reliability, and safety of grid electricity.
2. Complex and Informal Grid Connections
- Diverse Connection Types: The study identifies a wide variety of grid connection types in Kampala’s informal settlements. These range from standard individual metered connections to collective (shared) metered or unmetered arrangements, and even illegal “tapping” of the grid.
- Service Arrangements: There are at least 29 distinct service arrangements (combinations of connection type and payment recipient), reflecting the complexity and heterogeneity of electricity access in these communities.
3. Financial Flows and Payment Structures
- Who Gets Paid: While 44% of respondents paid the utility directly, a majority (56%) paid intermediaries such as landlords, neighbors, or local electricians (kamyufus). This highlights the prevalence of informal financial arrangements.
- Payment Methods: Payment structures vary widely. Some users pay a flat monthly rate, others use a pay-as-you-go system, and some use a hybrid approach. Collective metered connections often result in less transparent and more inequitable payment systems.
4. Limitations of Existing Metrics
- Inadequacy of Standard Frameworks: Traditional metrics like the World Bank’s Multi-Tier Framework (MTF) fail to capture the realities of informal and improvised grid connections. These frameworks often oversimplify access as binary (connected/unconnected) and overlook the social and structural barriers to equitable electricity access.
5. Policy Implications
- Need for Holistic Approaches: The paper argues for integrating qualitative, user-centered perspectives with technical data to better understand and address the lived realities of electricity access.
- Addressing Structural Barriers: Policymakers must recognize and address the structural inequities that drive informal grid connections, including high connection costs, affordability issues, and insecure land tenure.
6. Empirical Findings from Kampala
- Survey and Monitoring Data: The study is based on surveys (n=500), interviews (n=66), and remote power quality monitoring (n=146) across 25 informal settlements in Kampala.
- Connection Costs: The cost of a formal utility connection ranged from 1 to 3.8 times the average monthly income of respondents, making it prohibitively expensive for many.
- Shared Meters: The majority of metered connections (64%) were collective, with multiple households sharing a single meter, often due to the high cost of individual connections.
Summary Table: Key Findings
| Aspect | Main Findings |
|---|---|
| Grid Access | Highly inequitable, especially in informal settlements |
| Connection Types | 29 unique service arrangements identified, including many informal setups |
| Payment Recipients | 44% pay utility, 56% pay intermediaries (landlords, neighbors, kamyufus) |
| Payment Structures | Flat rate, pay-as-you-go, and hybrid models common |
| Connection Costs | 1–3.8 times average monthly income, a major barrier |
| Reliance on Polluting Fuels | Remains high despite grid connections |
| Policy Frameworks | Current metrics fail to capture complexity of informal access |
Conclusion
The study underscores that grid connections in African cities like Kampala are not translating into equitable, reliable, or safe electricity access for the urban poor. I feel validated to see a more rigorous research process highlight the challenges I have seen in my own experience growing up in Kampala and my conversations with residents there today. Addressing these challenges requires a more nuanced understanding of informal practices, user experiences, and the structural barriers that shape energy access in rapidly urbanizing contexts.
Special thanks to Gilbert Nuwagira for bringing this paper to my attention.
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