DATABASE
Energy portraits
completed
Country
Kenya
Ghana
Tanzania
Africa
Year
2018
Issue
Solutions
Abstract
Energy Portraits Africa Africa needs energy Approximately 600 million people, 60% of the sub-Saharan population, do not have access to electricity. The United Nations has included universal access to modern forms of energy as one of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. But what does access to energy mean? In our minds, electricity is like a switch, either it is on or it is off. However, in today’s world there are many intermediate solutions when it comes to energy access. Recent technological developments have allowed for innovative solutions to meet universal needs. On the ground we observe many new technical options as well as unpredictable consumer behaviour, resulting in a vast range of solutions. Over 130 million decentralised power systems, mainly solar, together with innovative mini-grids are already supplying electricity alongside the traditional network and offer a service that at times is competitive and more efficient and reliable, while at other times is inadequate, expensive and unable to activate economic development. The challenge posed by the UN is anything but trivial. It's hard to imagine accessing electricity for less than a dollar a day. It is difficult to think of escaping poverty without electricity. The photographs of Marco Garofalo take us on a journey through Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana and show us the significance of having access to energy for millions of people. From family portraits to documentation of daily life; from views of African landscapes to raids in the slums of Nairobi and Accra. Despite all of this, electricity is a presence everywhere.