The preliminary results of the first national energy use survey show that Ngwaketse West is the country’s least electrified region, with just 14.3% of residents enjoying access.
In absolute numbers, just 626 households in the sub-district are connected to electricity, while 3,739 are unconnected and forced to use other methods of heating and lighting. According to the survey, Orapa and Sowa have 100% electricity connection rates, while Gaborone is at 94.3%, Jwaneng at 91.2% and the North East district at 88.6%.
Nationally, 165,732 households out of the total 634,076 are not connected to electricity, yielding a connection rate of 73.9%.
The results of the survey paint an increasingly dire picture of Ngwaketse West, which has also been named amongst the country’s poorest regions.
According to a 2015 study, the settlement of Kutuku in the sub-district had 100 of the of the 166 residents classified as poor or earning less than P1,332 per month. Basic needs such as food, clothing, personal hygiene, services, shelter and others were beyond the reach of these residents, the Statistics Botswana study said.
