Bringing electricity to a poor rural village can actually increase the death rate by 44%.
April 15, 2026
Original Paper
Geographic Heterogeneity in Energy-Health Relationships: Evidence from Rural-Urban Differences in African Energy Expansion
SSRN · 6459400
The Takeaway
We take it as a given that energy access equals better health and longer lives. However, in rural Africa, expanding the power grid is linked to a shocking 44% spike in mortality compared to cities. The problem isn't the electricity itself, but the lack of 'government effectiveness' to manage the rapid changes it brings. Without proper healthcare infrastructure and safety regulations to go with the power, the sudden shift creates new risks the community isn't prepared to handle. It means 'plugging in' isn't a silver bullet; it's a dangerous tool that requires a stable foundation to be beneficial.
From the abstract
We analyze the impact of energy access on population health in 23 African countries from 2000 to 2021, emphasizing differences between rural and urban areas. Using fixed-effects instrumentalvariable estimation with lagged energy access to address measurement error and infrastructure persistence, we find that expanding energy access in rural areas is associated with a 44% higher mortality rate than in urban areas. Healthcare capacity acts as a confounder, mediating 1.68%, rather than being a caus