According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about 770 million people still live without electricity across the world, particularly in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; in Nigeria alone, 85 million people lack access to grid electricity. Many communities are reliant on alternative fuels, such as diesel generators and paraffin lanterns, which are often expensive, inefficient, and sometimes unsafe. For University of Toronto graduate Olugbenga Olubanjo, the challenge of overcoming electricity inequality isn’t just a career passion. It’s an endeavour of personal significance, too.
“I’ve been struggling with it all through my life,” says Olubanjo, who grew up in Ibadan, Nigeria. “There was no stable electricity for the first 24 years of my life. There was a period of time in my household where there was no electricity for two years. It made reading and learning very tough.”
