IDA at Work: Energy - Improving services for the poor

Jan 2007

Energy services are vital for economic development and improvements in the standard of living for the world’s poor. Agriculture, industry, commerce and household access to energy underpin growth in productivity.
This booklet describes how the International Development Association (IDA), the concessional lending arm of the World Bank, supports the poorest countries to improve access to reliable and affordable energy services. It also shows several detailed examples of how countries have focused on energy services to positively affect the lives and health of the poor.
The international development community has recognized the importance of energy services for poverty reduction. Chronic underinvestment, sub-optimal policies and weak institutional management have been the greatest challenges to effective energy service provision.
In some Sub-Saharan African countries, less than 5 percent of rural households receive electricity service and at current rates of electrification more than 50 percent of households region-wide would still lack access in 2030. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than three billion people, most of them in IDA countries, use wood, dung, and other traditional fuels in their homes to meet cooking and heating needs, and that the resulting indoor air pollution is responsible for 1.5 million deaths per year—mostly of children and women.
Lack of energy services in many IDA countries is due to chronic underinvestment in the sector as well as to sub-optimal policies and weak institutions. Therefore, the support of IDA in the sector encompasses investment as well as policy and institutional support to help countries meet the challenge of improving energy services.

By: International Development Association (IDA)

 
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