Recent debates on how to provide electricity to the roughly one billion still unconnected people in developing countries have identified mini-grids as a promising way forward. High upfront costs of transmission lines are avoided, and unlike home-scale solar, mini-grids can provide sufficient...

The note focuses on the external benefits of rural electrification (RE), i.e., improved access to communication, education, and economic opportunities, in addition to extended health services. It outlines key lessons to scaling up RE, namely macroeconomic stability, continued government...