- Namibia’s overall electrification rate is estimated to be about 50%.
- Under 4,000 houses are connected to the grid per year.
About half of Namibia residents still have no access to electricity, with over 300 000 households, particularly in rural areas, unelectrified.
This was revealed by the executive director of the mines and energy ministry, Simeon Negumbo, who said electricity provision remains a challenge as the country’s overall electrification rate is estimated to be about 50%.
An estimated 70-80% of rural households do not have access to electricity. At the same time, figures in urban localities are much better, as around 70% of households in urban areas are connected to the power grid.
Negumbo recently said, “This is a high number of people who do not have the means to hit a switch and have lights on so their children can study at night or cook using modern stoves or preserve their food and drinks in a refrigerator or run a barber shop or salon that requires electricity to make money and support their families.”
The ministry has set a target to electrify every Namibian household by 2040. However, according to the Electricity Control Board (ECB), this could be a pipe dream as under 4,000 houses are connected to the grid annually. By 2040, only about 40,000 to 80,000 new connections will be achieved at this rate.
According to ECB, to achieve the universal electrification target in 18 years, about 30,000 new connections need to be made annually.