| Summary: | Includes bibliographical references. === There are some common characteristics of rural communities throughout the world. They tend to lack a good economic infrastructure, essential social amenities, tourist potential, good road infrastructure, literacy, and most importantly, scarcity of sufficient energy supply to meet basic needs, and deteriorating environments due to increasing pressure on available traditional energy resources. Furthermore, rural areas in the developing countries of South and East Sub-Saharan Africa are characterised by high population ratios, low levels of income, concentration of poverty, significant socio-economic disparities relative to urban area, and a high rate rural-urban migration. The availability of adequate and convenient energy is essential in addressing these priorities of rural development. The development of energy resources for rural areas is, therefore, closely linked to the economic, social and environmental concerns of mainstream rural development. Unlike growth-driven energy development for industrialisation and urbanisation, rural energy development must consider social and environmental development. More importantly, it must be people-oriented. The result of the study has indicated that the pace of energy transition from traditional to commercial energy in the rural areas of countries in the region has lagged behind that in urban areas, a similar situation to that existing between developing countries and developed countries. Significant rural-urban inequalities in commercial energy supply and consumption exist. Rural communities still continue to rely heavily on traditional energy, mainly biomass resources.
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