Transforming rural Africa with solar mini-grids and women leadership
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Sub-Saharan Africa is a diverse region composed of 48 countries. In 2023 the population of Sub-Saharan Africa amounted to 1.24 billion people out of which an estimated 708.996.508 lived in rural areas. The region is marked by higher-than-average poverty rates (33%) and uneven levels of development including low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high-income countries.
Access to modern electricity is essential for economic growth, poverty alleviation and improved living standards. Access to electricity is defined by having access to modern electricity sources, clean cooking facilities and a certain minimum level of consumption. According to the international energy agency, in 2023, 760 million people lacked access to electricity 85% of which live in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this regard the rural population has the lowest rates of electrification, falling from 37% to 34% in 2022. The slow electrification of rural communities in the region is explained by the difficulties of connecting them to the grid due to weak infrastructure and high system cost of expansion. With the current rates of electrification, 660 million people will remain without access to electricity in 2030 with rural communities in rural sub-Saharan Africa being the most affected.
Gender inequality is a key factor in Sub-Saharan Africa's high poverty rates, with 62% of women in extreme poverty living in the region. Closing the gender gap could boost GDP by 30%. Women disproportionately handle unpaid care work, which is heavily influenced by access to modern energy. In rural areas without clean energy, women spend much time on energy-related tasks and are exposed to harmful indoor air pollution, causing 680,000 premature deaths annually. Lack of electricity limits women’s financial and social opportunities, making it harder to escape poverty. Gendered impacts must be considered in electrification programs.
The current low electrification levels in Sub-Saharan Africa are supported by an unsustainable energy mix that relies heavily on coal, oil and traditional uses of biomass.
Renewables are increasingly powering Africa, with growth concentrated in countries with strong financial systems and favorable policies. Solar-powered mini grids have played a key role, providing 11 million connections to rural communities in 2022. Mini grids are the best solution where grid connections are unfeasible, supported by the region's high solar potential and falling costs of components. By 2030, mini grids could reduce electricity costs to $0.20/kWh, making them the most cost-effective solution for isolated rural areas and paving the way for future grid expansion.
Despite the attractiveness of these technologies, some challenges remain. First mini grids projects have high upfront costs. The financial landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa does not allow to leverage low cost capital due to high interest rates and high perceived risk linked to political and economic instability. In addition to that, current mini grid projects often lack community involvement which results in lower levels of sustainability and efficiency.
Finally, regarding the policy landscape on electrification and gender equality, evidence shows that mini grids are more likely to benefit women empowerment within their community as opposed to traditional grid expansion. Furthermore, recent development and the slow increase in women political representation accounts for more policies targeted at the poorest and most vulnerable groups. Mini grids are therefore a unique policy opportunity for development and gender equality. However, progress in this direction is slow and most electrification programs still fail to address the evident gender-energy- development nexus. In this regard we propose a unique program meant to fully recognise and integrate the gender effects and benefits of electrification.
In the light of the current context for rural electrification and gender inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa we propose a program designed to increase access to modern, affordable and clean energy services to rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa through women empowerment and community participation.
The goal is to develop off-grid solar-powered mini-grids with a gender mainstreaming approach. The first phase will deploy 500 mini-grids across Sub-Saharan Africa, with capacities ranging from 10 kW to 100 kW, tailored to communities of 100-2,500 people, primarily agricultural. These mini-grids will power homes, agriculture, schools, health centers, and other key infrastructure. The program will cover all stages: preparation, financing, installation, and maintenance, ensuring active participation of local women in decision-making, particularly in sizing, financing, and deploymentThe proposed program will focus on 4 main objectives:
This project aligns with the UN’s SDGs: SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 5 (gender equality), and SDG 13 (climate action). After the pilot phase, it can be scaled up to expand mini grids and integrate gender mainstreaming into other electrification projects.
The project will benefit rural, isolated communities, focusing on women and girls. Key benefits include improved household efficiency, increased labor market participation, better education, and improved health. Coordinated by UN Women, UNDP, and the World Bank, the project leverages their expertise in electrification and gender equality. A multi-level, multi-stakeholder approach will ensure comprehensive reach to remote areas of Sub-Saharan Africa.
• On field support for developers and local communities: coordinators will take an active part in the implementation of the program directly on the field with local communities and in partnership with developers
• National reform and international cooperation: the program will work closely with national government to facilitate the creation of a favourable policy and financial landscape for the development of mini grids and rural electrification policies in favour of women empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Financial coordination: this program will connect all relevant financial stakeholders, public and private to facilitate the creation of a competitive market for mini grids
Proper mini grid sizing is crucial for maximising development benefits. Oversized grids lead to high costs and inefficiencies, while undersized grids cause unreliable supply. Research emphasises the importance of community involvement and field surveys to assess local energy needs and demand.
What this program offers is a gendered approach to rural energy assessment in order to highlight the unique understanding women have of energy systems and to have a system sized to account for all the potential positive externalities electrification has for women in particular.
• Women have a unique understanding of community energy needs and uses: Due to their central role as mothers and caregivers, women have a unique understanding of domestic energy needs and uses. Women are also most often in charge of unpaid energy seeking activities such as collecting firewood. Furthermore, in rural sub–Saharan Africa, women and youth are an important part of the agricultural workforce
• The developmental perspective for women are often unaccounted for resulting in undersized grids and underinvestment: Improving access for electricity can have several positive externalities for women that can improve development outcomes for the entire community. First access to electricity can improve labor market participation for women. Second, it can improve women’s health
The assessment will be conducted directly on the field in collaboration with local women to favour a bottom-up approach. It will include quantitative measures of population, living area, and sun exposure, as well as evaluating existing infrastructure and barriers to mini grid installation. Qualitative interviews, particularly with women, will assess energy needs and their energy knowledge. Additional interviews with stakeholders will gauge support and potential social obstacles. Research methods will be tailored to each community’s unique context. This phase will take up to 3 months.
The technology: the mini grids will include a solar powered generation unit, some level of storage system with lead acid batteries, distribution lines and energy management systems. The whole size of the installation will range from 10 kW to 100 kW depending on the results from the previous sizing operations. Solar power mini grids will be installed by certified technicians from the selected provider.
The installation phase will be accompanied by a training program for local women to acquire technical and administrative skills so they can run the mini grid without relying on the initial provider. Previous studies highlight that mini grid projects are more efficient and sustainable with maintenance operations and active community involvement. Properly maintained mini grids have a lifespan of 20 to 25 years. In remote locations, having the community involved in maintenance is essential to improve economic self-reliance and have quick responses in case of system failure. From a gender mainstreaming approach, it makes the most sense to train women to be in charge of maintenance. This policy component is a unique opportunity for capacity building and change in social norms. By improving women technical knowledge and skills and making them key actors of energy access and clean energy transition actors in their communities.
Considering that this project develops a unique gender mainstreaming approach to the development of solar powered mini grids, monitoring and evaluating practices will be necessary to improve the method and evaluate its actual benefits. To measure the impact of the project, key indicators will be regularly assessed.
• Electrification and electricity use: this indicator measures whether the community is fully utilising the mini grid’s potential and if it has boosted electricity-powered productive activities. These activities increase the project's financial profitability by encouraging daytime consumption and fostering local economic development
• Household financial situation: program coordinators will monitor the repayment rates of the connection costs, tariffing of electricity and household income levels to assess the economic viability of the project
Regarding the benefits of electrification for women, we will follow the example of existing literature and use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to have a better and more quantified understanding of the benefits of electrification for women. The following indicators will be analysed:
• Women labor market participation and income: electrification should result in less time- consuming housework meaning that women will have the opportunity to engage in more productive paid work
• Women health status: access to electricity should facilitate the uptake of certain types of electricity powered appliances such as clean cooking technologies
• Evolution of social norms and perception of women capabilities: the training and involvement of women in the project can have an impact on how they are perceived in their communities thus expanding their social role and economic opportunities outside the household
• Girls’ education rate and school attendance: this metric is essential to evaluate the long lasting impact of the program on following generations
The cost of mini grids is hard to evaluate as there is no one size fits all approach and both capital expenditure and operation costs highly depend on location, variability of demand, existing infrastructure and maintenance and operation cost. ESMAP estimations accounting for component cost decline and development of income generating electricity uses, set the upfront investment cost for solar mini grid per unit of firm capacity at approximately 2500 USD by 2030. This project will aim at connecting all relevant stakeholders in order to mobilise sufficient amounts of finance for all stages of the project. The business model for this project will be owner-operator and will favour cooperation between providers (public or private) and local communities.
This program aims to attract commercial investment in mini grids, shifting away from grant reliance. Capital expenditures will be covered through concessional finance with a 70-30 debt-equity split, while grants remain supplementary. The program will help develop a commercial financing scheme to engage the private sector.
• Improved data availability to reduce uncertainty mainly through precise and comprehensive rural energy assessment that will provide a clear picture of expected costs and returns
• Favourable national incentives for private companies' national policy landscape can tremendously impact investment decisions, therefore the program will encourage the use of subsidies for capital expenditure or electricity payments to attract investment.
In this program, connection costs including metering and service drop will be covered by households using micro finance loans managed by local women. This is key to allow households to pay for their high connection fees and promote financial integration to stimulate future income generating activities. In this regard, each household should receive a micro energy loan meant to cover its connection to the grid. Loans will be repaid in instalments following income levels and fluctuations throughout the years of repayment.
Micro loans in this program serve 2 purposes. First, they encourage communities to participate in financing the project which encourages their active involvement in maintaining a sustainable grid. Second, the introduction of micro financing schemes is a way to improve financial integration and literacy which can result in the development of new economic opportunities. In this regard, micro loans will be given priority to women. In Sub-Saharan Africa, financial integration is low with 49 % of adults owning a bank account. Furthermore, the World Bank identified a 12-percentage point gender gap in account ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa. Women’s poor financial integration results in exclusion from household financial decisions. In this regard the targeted microfinance operation is a way to contribute to women empowerment through financial emancipation.
Appropriate tariff setting is essential to ensure the economic viability of the project and attract sufficient investment from private developers. In this regard, community involvement is key to ensuring that tariffs will be set at a level that ensures both return on investment, coverage of operating and maintenance cost for developers and affordability for consumers. Tariffing under this program:
• Uniform energy-based tariffs: electricity tariffs will be consumption-based, with the option to prepay depending on income fluctuations
• Modern metering technologies will be required to give consumers necessary information about their consumption
• Tariff collection will be done remotely or collected by trained operation and maintenance agents in areas where cell phone service isn’t available
The financial return of mini grids and their ability to attract investment will depend on end usage and especially the development of commercial uses. The economic viability of this program will depend on the ability to balance load profile and minimise the cost of electricity to consumers while increasing consumption. In this regard this program works to increase the use of efficient appliances by:
• Informing local communities of available financing solutions for efficient appliances
• Organising training workshops about the benefits of efficient appliances
This program will focus on developing mini grids tailored to their host community needs using a gender mainstreaming approach. The introduction of mini grids is meant to improve electrification rates in rural Sub-Saharan Africa with the use of clean energy. The gendered approach of this program aims to improve women's socio economic outcome from electrification. Women will be key actors of this program through 3 main channels:
• They will take part in the gender-based energy assessment which is meant to value their knowledge of community energy needs and uses in order to adequately size the mini grid and account for the gendered positive externalities of electrification.
• Women will be trained to operate and maintain the mini grid thus becoming key actors of clean energy transition in their communities
• Women will manage the micro loans for connection cost and receive financial literacy training and open bank accounts to facilitate their financial integration
In the long term, this program will enhance economic opportunities through access to modern energy and efficient technologies, with a focus on empowering women through technical, administrative, and financial training.
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