Policy 360 Podcast - Powering Rural Africa

According to USAID, only 4 percent of people in rural Zambia has access to power. As a part of an interdisciplinary team called Bass Connections, a Duke University student team has spent the past academic year trying to get a better understanding of the barriers to energy investment there. The team looked at policy issues, assessed customers’ willingness to pay, and even created a geospatial application so potential investors can easily look at variables in each region before deciding to invest.

Faculty and staff of the Energy Access Project at Duke led the team. What the team learned in Zambia could be helpful to those trying to help other developing countries gain sustainable power.

Hear three members of the team – undergraduates Aashna Aggarwal and Miranda Wolford and graduate student Sumin Wang – talk about their experience with the project on the latest episode of Policy 360, a podcast presented by the Sanford School of Public Policy.