How Energy Access Powers Opportunities

What European consumers do not see is this: those green beans, picked in rural Senegal, are shipped to Europe fresh simply because the infrastructure to freeze or can them at home does not exist. Yet, that is how most Europeans consume their beans: processed, preserved, and conveniently packaged. The value added through processing happens abroad, not where the beans are grown. And the reason is simple: there is not enough stable and cost-effective energy infrastructure in the very places where it is needed most.

By now,most people would be familiar with the term "energy access." Over the past decade, it has gained traction as recognition grew that fighting climate change and delivering sustainable development goals will not be achieved without providing "universal" access to energy to the billions of people, most of them in Africa, still living with little to no access to electricity. In the last decades, significant efforts have been made to provide"energy access" to countries like Senegal. However, these efforts did not shift the needle in the economic prospects of the target population.

But what does energy access actually mean? The International Energy Agency (IEA) defines it as a household with reliable and affordable access to clean cooking facilities and electricity sufficient to power a basic bundle of energy services. This definition, widely adopted by global initiatives, revolves around household connection rates. After the launch of Mission 300 at the Africa Energy Summit earlier this year - another "global" initiative to address the issue of energy access - I could not help but wonder whether we should not rethink the very objective of "energy access" for the Least Developed Countries. Simply put, if "energy access" does not create enhanced economic opportunities for the people growing the beans, then what is the point?

Rethinking Energy Access: A Driver for Opportunity, not a Universal Right

In Senegal,more than 35% of rural households still lack access to electricity. Connecting these homes is important, but this narrow view fails to deliver what people in those households truly need: improved economic opportunity. Framing energy access as a universal human right is well-intentioned. But rights do not create livelihoods. If "energy access" is a right, who guarantees it? More importantly, what happens once the light is on, but the future is still dim?

When it comes to the adoption of energy, history offers a unique perspective. One whereby all developed nations used it to first drive economic growth through the transformation of primary raw materials into value added finished goods, creating jobs, wealth, and long-term economic stability. While comparing might not always be a valid reasoning, it is disheartening to see that we, as a global development community, continue to stubbornly ignore lessons learned. Energy is not so much a moral imperative than it is an economic necessity. It is a precondition for industrial development, and without it, opportunity remains elusive.

PURE May Help. But It Will Not Solve the Problem

To address the limits of household electrification, the energy access sector has turned to Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE), powering small, income-generating activities like barbershops, grain mills, or refrigeration. These interventions are valuable, but their scale is fundamentally limited in meeting the magnitude of the challenge facing countries like Senegal. Senegal's youth population is booming. Over 60% of the country's population is under the age of 25. Like many of its neighbors, Senegal faces one of the highest youth unemployment rates. Electrifying a single shop or machine might change one person's life, but it will not shift the economic trajectory of a generation. We must aim higher.

Powering Industrialisation: Where Energy Becomes Opportunity

In Senegal, agriculture dominates rural livelihoods. Yet most of the value in agriculture is lost at the first mile due to insufficient preservation and transformation. If Senegal had the infrastructure to freeze or can green beans locally, it would not just generate higher export prices, but most importantly, it would create jobs. But this is not possible without energy. At Kowry Energy, we work in areas without access to energy. Our focus is not just lighting homes but building the energy infrastructure that serves as the foundation for local industrial growth. The true transformation we seek sparks not just from individual households gaining access to electricity but from the jobs created, the incomes earned, and the futures built.

A Call to Action: Change the Metrics, Improve the Impact

Opportunity means more than access. It means prospects, choices, and upward mobility. As a global community, we have spent the last decade counting household connection rates under SDG7 to finally acknowledge that the goal will not be achieved ("660 million people will still lack access to electricity by 2030", SDG Reports 2023). But the real question should be: what economic activity has this energy made possible? Has it enabled a community to build a processing plant? To grow local employment? To move from exporting raw materials to building robust local value chains? Energy is the missing link between subsistence and sovereignty. Between getting by and getting ahead.

Mission300, recently launched in a joint effort by the World Bank and AfDB, presents areal chance to transform mere "access" to energy into genuine opportunity. But for this to happen, we cannot just shift the narrative; we must boldly reassess investment priorities. Current plans to connect 250million people through grid extension and an additional 50 million via mini-grids will still fundamentally leave 600 million rural inhabitants behind. For these communities, the most valuable energy is not a light bulb; it is the energy that provides quality jobs for the majority. Funding must be directed toward energy infrastructure for industrial use cases in the rural economy.

Let us deliver energy where it matters most: at the heart of rural economies, powering agro-industry and creating real opportunity. Because only then will "access" truly have meaning for the people we aim to serve.

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