Fewer than four in 10 citizens enjoy a reliable supply of power.
Key findings
- Six in 10 Namibians (60%) live in zones served by the national electricity grid. o But only 40% of rural residents are within reach of the grid, compared to nearly twice as many urban residents (78%).
- Fewer than half (48%) of Namibians live in households that are connected to the national power grid.
- Among those who are connected to the grid, more than three-fourths (77%) say their electricity works "most of the time" or "all of the time."
- Combining connection and reliability rates shows that fewer than four in 10 Namibians (37%) enjoy a reliable supply of electricity, including just 19% of rural residents and 28% of citizens experiencing high lived poverty.
- About a quarter (24%) of Namibians say they use sources of electricity other than the national grid. The most popular are solar panels (36% of those who use alternative sources) and hydropower (33%).
- Around two-thirds (68%) of respondents say the government is doing a poor job of providing a reliable supply of electricity. o Disapproval has climbed by 24 percentage points over the past decade and is particularly widespread among the elderly (75%), the least educated (74%), rural residents (73%), and poor citizens (73%).
Namibia's National Electrification Policy aims to achieve universal electricity access by 2040 (Muyamba, 2023). The country's overall electrification rate is estimated at 50%, but between 70% and 80% of rural households remain without power (Brandt, 2022; Namibia Economist, 2022), while 70% of households in urban areas are electrified (Matthys, 2022).
To meet its current energy demands, Namibia relies heavily on power imported from neighbouring South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (Tlhage, 2023; Matthys, 2023). Its state owned power utility, NamPower, generates only 40% of the country's electricity needs (Green Energy Africa Summit, 2023), but the parastatal intends to reduce its dependency on imports by increasing its generating capacity as outlined in its Integrated Strategic Business Plan (2020-2025) (Institute for Public Policy Research, 2023).
In 2021, electricity was the third-most imported product in Namibia (OEC World, 2023). South Africa has historically been Namibia's largest supplier of power, but as its national energy company, Eskom, struggles with power-generation woes of its own, Namibia's vulnerability to energy supply shocks has been exposed (International Trade Administration, 2024).
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To ensure energy security in the long term, the Namibian government has articulated a commitment to renewables in its National Renewable Energy Policy (2017), which aims to help the country "meet its short-term and long-term national development goals, and to assist Namibians to climb the development ladder, empowered by access to energy at levels that facilitate engagement in productive activity" (Ministry of Mines and Energy, 2017).
In line with this ambition, Namibia is positioning itself as a leader in the green hydrogen space (Tlhage, 2024). During a recent state visit to Namibia, King Philippe of Belgium met with President Nangolo Mbumba to discuss accelerating the African country's green hydrogen efforts and forging an energy partnership to respond to climate change (Petersen, 2024).
Afrobarometer survey findings provide an on-the-ground look at electricity access in Namibia. While a majority of Namibians live in zones served by the electric grid, fewer than four in 10 enjoy a reliable supply of electricity, including just one-fifth of rural residents.
More than two-thirds of citizens say the government is performing poorly on the provision of reliable electricity, the worst rating recorded in two decades of Afrobarometer surveys.
Asafika Mpako Asafika is the communications coordinator for Southern Africa
Stephen Ndoma Stephen is the assistant project manager for Southern Africa
