According to statistics, the number of households accessing electricity has increased from 10% in 2010 to 74.5% as of September 2022. Kicukiro and Nyaruguru Districts have currently the highest rate with 99% while the lowest rate is above 50%. The total number of households connected across the country is over two million today.
The Government of Rwanda has taken a policy decision to diversify the sources of electricity by adding to traditional dominant grid connections some mini-grid and off-grid connections. Subsequently, Households located far away from the planned national grid coverage are being encouraged to use alternatively cheaper connections such as Mini-grids and Solar Photovoltaics (PVs) to reduce the cost of access to electricity whilst relieving constraints on historical government subsidies.
Among the 74.5% households accessing electricity, 50.9% are connected to the national grid while 23.6% are accessing through off-grid solutions, mainly solar energy and mini-grids. The current access targets stipulate a 100% access to electricity by the year 2024.
“Around 25% to be connected in two years is still a big number, but we assure that this is achievable, and we’ll meet again in 2024 to celebrate this.” Said Mr. Ron Weiss, the CEO of REG during the celebration of reaching two million households accessing electricity.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Mr. Fidele Abimana, said that this is a big step towards the journey to achieve the country’s electrification targets.
“Aiming for one million in the two years we have left, there is no doubt that by 2024 we will have achieved it. The Sustainable Development Goals say that the access to electricity of all people should be achieved by 2030, and Rwanda is determined to achieve it by 2024.” He added.”
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