Electricity makes economic development possible; it paves the way for improvements in healthcare and educational opportunities. Yet less than 10 percent of the rural population of Mali has an electricity supply. In remote regions the figure falls to almost zero.

These people have no prospect of being connected to the public grid in future; distributed solutions represent the only opportunity for a modest level of electrification. Very high solar insolation in this West African country means that there is great potential for solar energy use, but unfortunately this potential is largely untapped. Some examples of development cooperation demonstrate what can be achieved despite the many difficulties.

Klaus Sieg
Agenda - Photographers & journalists
Hamburg, Germany
sieg@agenda-fototext.de