This paper estimates the impact of electrication on employment growth by analyzing South Africa’s mass roll-out of electricity to rural households. Using several new data sources and two dierent identication strategies (an instrumental variables strategy and a fixed effects approach), I fnd that electrication signicantly raises female employment within 5 years. This new infrastructure appears to increase hours of work for men and women, while reducing female wages and
increasing male earnings. Several pieces of evidence suggest that household electrication raises employment by releasing women from home production and enabling micro-enterprizes. Migration behavior may also be afected.