Imagine, these people don’ t have electricity to cook their food, so they burn wood inside their houses; families do not have refrigerators, so they eat spoiled food( if they are lucky to have food); children do not have light under where they can read, so they study beside a candle or not study at all; fathers and mothers go home from work traversing dark roads or pathways, putting themselves in real danger.
This is what life is for 18 % of the world’ s population, and I am afraid it is not imaginary.
Providing them electricity is important
Many of the world’ s un-connected come from rural areas in Africa and Asia. Unfortunately, as emerging regions, Africa and Asia are facing other challenges, such as insufficient food security, inadequate health services, and public infrastructure underdevelopment, aside from limited access to electricity. These aforementioned items often command the attention of the government and key stakeholders, so that access to electricity frequently takes a backseat.
However, the importance of having reliable electricity can never be overstated. With electricity, farmers can grow more food, hospitals and clinics can operate more efficiently, and roads and bridges can be built more quickly. Though not absolutely, a reliable electricity can help solve many of the challenges confronting the world’ s emerging economies, and it’ s high time access to electricity gets its share of the spotlight.
With clean electricity, life will get better for the world’ s poor
One of the staunchest advocates of providing sustainable electricity to the poor is Microsoft founder, billionaire Bill Gates. Through his 2016 Annual Letter, published on www. gatesnotes. com last February, Gates said that if one wanted to help the world’ s poorest families( as it is usually the poor that is adversely affected by the absence of reliable electricity), one had to find a way to provide them with clean electricity that they could afford. He underlined“ clean”, so that the electricity provided to the poor would not further contribute to climate change.