20
Mar

Residents of Karongi Districts living in 5606 households which got access to electricity say that their livelihoods are changing as they have now started new businesses and they easily get the services that require electricity. 

During the last year, 3556 households were connected while during the current year, a total of 2050 households have already been connected out of a target of 6000 households to be connected by the end of the year. 

As of today, the percentage of households which have electricity has increased from 23.2% to 32,1% including 26.2% connected to the grid and 5.9% using off-grid solutions. 

These citizens say that their lives have changed since they got electricity. 

“We no longer use “agatadowa” to get light during the night. We also use electricity to mill our crops. We used to travel several kilometers to get our crops milled and this was costing us a lot of money, but now we can get this service in our village.” Said Simeon Shyiriburyo, a resident of Rubengera Sector in Karongi District. 

Benimana Irenée also who lives in Kavumu Village says that he has started a barber shop thanks to electricity.  “I would not have been able to start this business without electricity. Now, I can get 20 to 30 clients a day and get a benefit of 3000 Frws every day” he added. 

In the endeavor to ensure universal access by 2024, REG is implementing several electrification projects all over the country. As of today, 49.6% of households in Rwanda have access to electricity.