Household energy access and welfare in Rwanda

Abstract

This thesis examines the welfare impact of energy access in Rwandan households with a focus on Electricity and biomass access. The welfare determinants used are the education expenses, health expenses, poverty and income. This study used simple OLS to determine the impacts of electricity and biomass access on household welfare. Findings have shown that electricity access has a positive and statistically significant impact on household welfare while biomass access was found to have a negative and statistically significant impact on household welfare. This study asserts that biomass energy consumption reduction in Rwanda is an efficient policy tool for environmentally sustainable country. While electricity access should be strengthened as it helps improve household welfare.