And Then They Lived Sustainably Ever After? : Experiences from Rural Electrification in Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya

Abstract

Accelerating the introduction of basic, clean energy services is seen as a key strategy for promoting sustainable development in rural areas. Still, many people worldwide lack access to modern energy such as electricity, and Africa lags behind other developing regions of the world. Support to rural electrification is therefore given high priority by the national governments and donor organisations. There is a trend to encourage the involvement of other actors than national utilities for implementation of rural electrification. At the same time, it is required that the activities shall contribute to sustainable development. The objective of the work presented in this thesis has been to reach increased knowledge on the impact from organisational factors on project sustainability, and to examine whether rural electrification implemented by private entrepreneurs or other non-governmental organisations contribute more effectively to sustainable development than the conventional approach where rural electrification is the responsibility of a government utility. A key activity of the research work has been to improve and develop the present methodologies used for evaluations, as to attain a more functional in-field evaluation method. The thesis presents findings from seven rural electrification cases in Eastern and Southern Africa and shows how these can be used to illustrate different dimensions of sustainability by means of indicators. The evaluation indicates that the national utilities perform better from a social/ethical perspective, whereas the private organisations and the community-based organisations manage their client-relation issues in a more sustainable way. In addition, a literature survey shows that among stakeholders there are a number of “concepts-taken-for-granted” as regards to rural electrification. These are not supported by the findings from the seven cases. The observed deviations between expectations and realities can obstruct the development as decision-makers may have unrealistic expectations when planning for new electrification activities. Instead, activities have to be implemented with the empirical reality in mind. By doing so the ambiguities, complexities and all the paradoxes of rural electrification can hopefully be better managed. The study has been funded by The Swedish International Development Agency, Department for Research Cooperation (SAREC), and Ångpanneföreningen’s Foundation for Research and Development (ÅFORSK).QC 2010081