Life is hard, but life without access to sustainable and affordable energy will surely be harder. Sustainable Development Goal 7 envisions a world where universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. As previously discussed, our major concern for us as a country is to avail affordable and sustainable energy in Uganda and many other countries mainly concerns with providing clean cooking energy. The need for affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy also extends to the availability of electricity in the household. Despite different government and development partners’ interventions, the majority of the population still relies heavily on woody biomass, such as charcoal and firewood as their primary energy source for cooking. It begs the question of how feasible that is in developing countries like Uganda, to achieve SDG 7. 

According to an article by Mercy Corps, as of 2020, about 860 million people still lack access to reliable electricity and 2.6 billion people live without access to clean cooking facilities in Uganda. Access to affordable and clean energy is vital to the fight against poverty and awards countries with opportunities to create jobs for their citizens. In this article, we will examine the realities that are before us if communities continue to go without access to energy and the challenges we face. If we do not take this goal seriously, it is no doubt that our communities will struggle given the continued climate change across the world. 

1. High expenses.

The problem we are facing today is with the price and expenses that come with accessing energy today. A full sack of charcoal costs up to 70,000 Uganda shillings, purchasing a gas cylinder is about 95,000 shillings, and 15 units of electricity are charged at a lifeline tariff of UGX 250 per kWh. All this depends on the capacity each household has to maintain the costs of this. Without a dependable energy supply, the expenses of every household in Uganda go up. 

2. Accessibility in UGANDA

The impressive progress of electricity has slowed down significantly and according to reports, a total of 733 million people have lacked electricity as of the year 2020, across the world. In 2019, Uganda ranked 7th in the Top 20 access-deficit countries with 26 million people without access to electricity. However, Uganda has made huge progress in electrification as it achieved annual growth in access of more than 3 percentage points between 2010 and 2019. Before Umeme, there was Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) and with that body, load shedding was like our daily bread. Today electricity barely gets goes off in some areas of the country unless you have failed to recharge your YAKA meter. 

Sadly to live without electricity is not a viable option for our country or any country at that given the fact that the world is moving at a very high pace. If we are to keep up with urbanisation and improve the quality of our livelihoods, Uganda cannot be ignorant of the fact that access to affordable electricity is necessary. 

3. Drastic effects to the environment. 

The year 2019 registered a drop in access to clean and renewable energy in Uganda. With this decline, the effects are undeniable, especially on the environment. We must embrace measures that help us in the fight against climate change to improve our weather and our surroundings.

“The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult… we must lead it.”

– Barak Obama