However, seizing these low-hanging fruit opportunities has exacerbated the urban-rural divide with respect to access to electricity. In all developing regions, electrification rates are significantly lower in rural areas. In sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, while 58.3 per cent of people living in cities have access to electricity, only 8 per cent of those living in rural areas have similar access (table 1). One of the most commonly cited successful electrification programmes is that of China, which has reached a rate of more than 98 per cent in less than two decades (1985-2000).