Evaluation of access to electricity and the socioeconomic effects in rural and urban expanses of Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose

Recently, multidimensional aspects of poverty has been increasingly focused on which includes education, economy and health, while access to modern energy such as stable electricity is also one of the possible solution; thus, this article aims to divulge the relation between access to electricity and progression in socioeconomic status in urban and rural areas of Nigeria in an attempt to propose a sustainable framework for access to electricity.

Design/methodology/approach

Demographic and health survey data are collected using four categories of model of questionnaires. A standard questionnaire was designed to gather information on features of the household's dwelling element and attributes of visitors and usual residents between the 2018 period. Biomarker questionnaire was used to gather biomarker data on men, women and children. Logistic model estimation technique was employed to estimate the socioeconomic factors affecting access to electricity in Nigeria.

Findings

These studies discovered that there are diverse set of factors affecting access to electricity in Nigeria especially in the rural areas. However, respondent residing in rural areas are still largely deprived access to electricity; most importantly, households with no access to electricity are more likely to use self-generating sets as revealed. Additionally, empirical findings indicated that the higher the level of your education and wealth, the higher the likelihood of having access to electricity in Nigeria. These factors included political will to connect the rural areas to the national grid, development of other infrastructures in those deprived areas and others.

Practical implications

The problem confronting access to electricity in Nigeria has three components. The first is the significance of those deprived access to electricity in the rural areas and the physical resources needed to connect them to the national grid. The second is the political willingness of the government to have equitable distribution of public goods evenly between rural and urban areas especially on electricity access which will go a long way in reducing poverty in Nigeria. The third is lack of robust national development plans and strategy to tackle the problems facing electricity access in Nigeria.

Social implications

As the rate of socioeconomic status/development increases, access to electricity is anticipated to rise up in Nigeria.

Originality/value

The findings can be used by the policy makers to address problems facing access to electricity in Nigeria.

Citation

Ogunro, T. and Afolabi, L. (2022), "Evaluation of access to electricity and the socioeconomic effects in rural and urban expanses of Nigeria", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 49 No. 1, pp. 124-137. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-09-2020-0662