Electricity Access Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1950–2000

ABSTRACT:It is well known that Africa currently has the lowest electricity access rate of any continent, a legacy of minimal colonial investment in electricity distribution. However, that post-1960 access has been highly uneven within and between sub-Saharan African countries, with significant implications for historical economic inequality and growth trends, has largely been left out of existing historical scholarship. This article reviews the history of electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, examines the evidence for and problems with measuring access historically, and presents four country-specific case studies which identify some of the conditions which enabled growth in access and the consequences for access inequality over time.