Electricity availability and access for economic opportunities: A disaggregated analysis of gender gaps and implications for pro-poor growth

Increasing living standards and overall economic development depend on electricity access and availability. However, in developing regions, access to reliable and affordable electricity remains a formidable challenge; this study examines the impact of electricity access and availability on both aggregate and gender-disaggregated economic participation in South Africa, a country that, despite its industrial advancement, faces significant disparities in electricity access and availability. These disparities have hindered economic growth and worsened gender inequalities, hindering efforts toward inclusive and pro-poor development. Using autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL), Structural Vector autoregression (SVAR) and the Granger non-causality approach, the study examines the short- and long-term effects, shock and causal effects of electricity availability and access on aggregate, male and female economic participation. The findings reveal that electricity availability has a negative impact on aggregate economic participation in the short run but a positive effect in the long run. Conversely, electricity access negatively influences economic participation in the short and long run, with more pronounced effects observed in male economic participation. The causal relationships show the unidirectional impacts of electricity access and consumption on economic participation and educational attainment. Furthermore, the shock analysis showed that electricity access and availability disruptions disproportionately affect male wage rates and educational attainment. The study recommends policies to improve electricity infrastructure, promote renewable energy adoption, and ensure that energy policies are gender-sensitive and support pro-poor growth. • Electricity access boosts education and jobs, with stronger short-term effects among males. • Access to power aids both genders—short-term gains in male sectors, long-term benefits for females. • Education and electricity access reinforce each other to support pro-poor growth. • Power infrastructure investment enhances education and economic chances in underserved areas.