A large number of people in Tanzania still live below the poverty line, and we are seeing the devastating effects of climate change, including more frequent and intense droughts and unpredictable rainfall.

This week, I’m attending the World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC with a message for World Bank officials from my home country: It’s vital that the World Bank, under its new president, keeps its promises to tackle climate change and becomes a real champion.

This would demonstrate the bank’s leadership on climate change and investments in clean energy, like off-grid solar power to reach the poorest.

One billion people still live in the dark, without any electricity. Energy poverty is particularly stark in rural and remote regions in Africa. In Tanzania, less than a fifth of people in rural areas have access to electricity. Off-grid renewables, like small solar systems, often reach rural communities more quickly and cheaply than a central grid, and are safer and cleaner than local alternatives like kerosene.