Energy access in Africa may seem like a factor which would improve many development indicators, and benefit health and wellbeing outcomes as well. However, the opposite may be the case (for example, the decrease of Gross National Happiness in Bhutan after the TV ban lift (Happiness: Lessons From a New Science. Chapter 6)). So, any electricity access should go in conjunction with the existence of material that increases individuals’ (different humans’ and non-human animals’) happiness (and motivates sustainable practices to safeguard the future) and the competitiveness (much greater locals’ preference) for this material compared to other one (e. g. violent or sexist/racist/body-shaming/uncooperative or unenjoyable relationships displaying movies or ads) or the locals’ ability to ignore the latter. This can partially answer your first question.
Economic development should 1) reduce the risk of great power war if normative development accompanies it, 2) have positive (but lesser) effects if no unexpected normative development occurs and, 3) have moderately to extensively negative effects if economic growth highlights negative human characteristics.
For example, 1) if countries that are getting richer internalize the gains from specialization, trade, and efficient institutions while observing health and wellbeing metrics, they can make better decisions about the use of potentially destructive technologies that are becoming increasingly more affordable. 2) governments can become more interested in presenting as people in movies (focusing on wealth exhibit, body image, …) and less interested in some traditional status symbols (e. g. which can be sexist, negatively biased toward poor people, or neglecting animal welfare) while keeping others (e. g. care for family and community), which shifts norms toward more consideration and less violence or coercion overall. 3) An instance in which large negative effects can occur is governments realizing that they can threaten, coerce, or attack their adversaries to achieve their objectives, including gaining economic benefits which they would spend on aspects associated with economic growth (wealth exhibit) as well as some local status symbols (meat eating).
It can be so that local engineers do not acquire sufficient knowledge to develop nuclear weapons from learning a small aspect specific to the operations of a reactor. However, even this situation (belief that they can develop the knowledge) could motivate governments to further research nuclear power, including for defense or military purposes.
Sanitation may be constrained by non-electrical infrastructure (e. g. latrines, (barrel) handwashing stations, soap, …) and education (importance of using the infrastructure). Even a flush toilet, quite high-end in many places, does not require electricity. In healthcare, there can also be more affordable programs available (e. g. paying clinic travel stipends to the most needy or in the greatest risk (e. g. risky delivery), mobile clinics/traveling doctors to remote communities for regular checks, community-based assessment of acute malnutrition cases in food-insecure communities and small amounts of local food available to the identified children, etc. Agriculture (stated above) may also benefit from non-electric improvements first. For example, planting seeds 75 cm apart rather than scattering them and weeding regularly can increase yields 2x or more (The Last Hunger Season).
So, finding what electricity could add for the greatest impact (assume a heavy-tailed distribution and find the best cases) and then sharing it at the lowest cost may be the best option. You may end up with figuring out that SAT textbooks for local schools and making sure students go over them may be the most cost-effective.
Then, other investors, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or the New Development Bank may be interested in funding electricity in sub-Saharan Africa.
Random ideas include placing solar panels in the Sahara Desert and establishing export processing zones with education and savings opportunities for migrants seeking employment (energy transport losses can be high and infrastructure subject to disputes so production should happen at the place of the electricity production).
Energy access in Africa may seem like a factor which would improve many development indicators, and benefit health and wellbeing outcomes as well. However, the opposite may be the case (for example, the decrease of Gross National Happiness in Bhutan after the TV ban lift (Happiness: Lessons From a New Science. Chapter 6)). So, any electricity access should go in conjunction with the existence of material that increases individuals’ (different humans’ and non-human animals’) happiness (and motivates sustainable practices to safeguard the future) and the competitiveness (much greater locals’ preference) for this material compared to other one (e. g. violent or sexist/racist/body-shaming/uncooperative or unenjoyable relationships displaying movies or ads) or the locals’ ability to ignore the latter. This can partially answer your first question.
Economic development should 1) reduce the risk of great power war if normative development accompanies it, 2) have positive (but lesser) effects if no unexpected normative development occurs and, 3) have moderately to extensively negative effects if economic growth highlights negative human characteristics.
For example, 1) if countries that are getting richer internalize the gains from specialization, trade, and efficient institutions while observing health and wellbeing metrics, they can make better decisions about the use of potentially destructive technologies that are becoming increasingly more affordable. 2) governments can become more interested in presenting as people in movies (focusing on wealth exhibit, body image, …) and less interested in some traditional status symbols (e. g. which can be sexist, negatively biased toward poor people, or neglecting animal welfare) while keeping others (e. g. care for family and community), which shifts norms toward more consideration and less violence or coercion overall. 3) An instance in which large negative effects can occur is governments realizing that they can threaten, coerce, or attack their adversaries to achieve their objectives, including gaining economic benefits which they would spend on aspects associated with economic growth (wealth exhibit) as well as some local status symbols (meat eating).
It can be so that local engineers do not acquire sufficient knowledge to develop nuclear weapons from learning a small aspect specific to the operations of a reactor. However, even this situation (belief that they can develop the knowledge) could motivate governments to further research nuclear power, including for defense or military purposes.
Sanitation may be constrained by non-electrical infrastructure (e. g. latrines, (barrel) handwashing stations, soap, …) and education (importance of using the infrastructure). Even a flush toilet, quite high-end in many places, does not require electricity. In healthcare, there can also be more affordable programs available (e. g. paying clinic travel stipends to the most needy or in the greatest risk (e. g. risky delivery), mobile clinics/traveling doctors to remote communities for regular checks, community-based assessment of acute malnutrition cases in food-insecure communities and small amounts of local food available to the identified children, etc. Agriculture (stated above) may also benefit from non-electric improvements first. For example, planting seeds 75 cm apart rather than scattering them and weeding regularly can increase yields 2x or more (The Last Hunger Season).
So, finding what electricity could add for the greatest impact (assume a heavy-tailed distribution and find the best cases) and then sharing it at the lowest cost may be the best option. You may end up with figuring out that SAT textbooks for local schools and making sure students go over them may be the most cost-effective.
Then, other investors, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or the New Development Bank may be interested in funding electricity in sub-Saharan Africa.
Random ideas include placing solar panels in the Sahara Desert and establishing export processing zones with education and savings opportunities for migrants seeking employment (energy transport losses can be high and infrastructure subject to disputes so production should happen at the place of the electricity production).