Africa-Press – Angola. Over the last 10 years, the province of Huambo has seen significant growth in access to electricity, with 32 percent of households now connected to the grid.
According to recently released results from the 2024 General Population and Housing Census, the doubling of public grid electricity coverage in this region has improved living conditions for families.
In 2014, only around 15 percent of households in this region of the Central Plateau relied on the public grid for lighting.
Of the 612,476 households in the province of Huambo, 198,541 now have access to the public electricity grid.However, the figures also show that more than half of families (57 per cent) still use torches as their main source of lighting.
The 2024 Census results also show that only around 22 percent of households in Huambo province have taps connected to the public drinking water network, while 20 percent rely on wells or unprotected cisterns for their water supply.
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported that just over half of households (56%) have access to appropriate drinking water sources, compared to 77% in urban areas and 40% in rural areas.
Regarding family residences, there has been a reduction in the number of hut-type houses, falling from 4.3% to 1.7% between 2014 and 2024.
The 2024 census shows that the province of Huambo, which has a population of 2,691,902 (mostly women), has grown by 672,347 people over the last 10 years, representing an average annual growth rate of 2.9 percent. This makes it the third most populous region in the country after Luanda and Huila.
The province comprises 17 municipalities: Alto-Hama, Bailundo, Bimbe, Caála, Cachiungo, Chicala-Cholohanga, Chilata, Chinjenje, Cuima, Ecunha, Huambo (the capital), Galanga, Londuimbali, Longonjo, Mungo, Sambo and Ucuma.
