however seizing these lowhanging fruit opportunities has exacerbated the urbanrural divide with respect to access to electricity in all developing regions electrification rates are significantly lower in rural areas in subsaharan africa for instance while per cent of people living in cities have access to electricity only per cent of those living in rural areas have similar access table one of the most commonly cited successful electrification programmes is that of china which has reached a rate of more than per cent in less than two decades