Power Africa Technology V3: Eliminating the Use of Non-Renewables and Increasing Business Activity and Income

Respondents became less reliant on batteries, kerosene, petrol, and other sources of non-renewable energy. The most common impacts reported included cost and time savings (80 percent), improved quality of life (57 percent), improved education (45 percent), and improved health, security, or crime reduction (38 percent). The data collection effort was led by Integra Government Services International in partnership with subcontractors Limestone Analytics, Dalberg Research, and WAAS International. Interviews were conducted using the Most Significant Change methodology, a participatory method that allows individuals to tell their own stories about what change they experienced and how it was experienced. This information helps decision makers to better understand how program interventions work. From this data set, the team analyzed all impacts mentioned to identify key themes for the benefits people experienced as a result of gaining access to new and improved electricity with support from Power Africa. This brief provides insight into those benefits as they relate to the different types of electricity received: mini-grid (34 percent of the 200 respondents), on-grid (24.5 percent), solar home systems (21.5 percent), and solar lanterns (20 percent). The USAID Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project conducted 200 interviews with energy customers in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria who gained access to new or improved electricity with support from Power Africa, as a result of assistance provided to host country governments and the private sector. This brief discusses the experience households have had as a result of gaining access to that electricity. Before, many households were relying on a number of other energy sources. After the introduction of solar lanterns, solar home systems, or grid connections, households tended to decrease their dependence on other energy sources on average. The vast majority (80 percent) of households that were using kerosene before Power Africa stopped relying on this energy source altogether. Fifty-five percent of households stopped using batteries, and 50 percent of households stopped using diesel generators and candles. Discontinuation of energy sources after Power Africa resulted in significant reductions in daily dependence on non-renewable energy sources. For example, households that continued to use batteries after the Power Africa-supported technology was introduced reduced their dependence on batteries by about 94 minutes each day.