The government’s pledge to deliver “Electricity for all” by extending high tension power cables to all rural households by 2030 is welcome, but also not ambitious enough.
Bangladesh urgently needs reliable power supplies to create the jobs and improvement in living standards which we need to develop the economy and increase people’s resilience to the negative consequences of climate change.
Speeding up the pace of improvement is vital if the economy is to take advantage of the demographic dividend created by the large numbers of young people who will be entering the labour market in the next two decades.
While it is right that the government set targets for extending the national grid, it is evident that much of the unmet demand for power in households can be met more speedily and cheaply by solar-powered LED lights.
The government should seek to deliver such needs quicker by supporting and subsidising the supply of solar panels and LED lights. These would be relatively cheap and quicker to implement, as can be seen by the success of IDCOL in delivering millions of solar-powered home electricity systems.
They would pay for themselves by delivering social and economic benefits more speedily to the households which need them.
At the same time, the government also needs to cut wasteful subsidies for fossil fuels and raise power prices to ensure more funds are available for the major investments which the country certainly needs.
Thinking long term is the best way to ensure we achieve this vital national target.