INVESTMENT in electrification by state utility Eskom is boosting business prospects in the broader East London area, as well as lighting up some 500 000 Eastern Cape households. Eskom spokesperson Lettitia Ndema says the company has budgeted R1.4-billion rand to address the backlog in electricity supplies to the Eastern Cape. According to Ndema, only 3.2 per cent of the province's rural population had access to electricity before 1994. Ndema says R89-million of this amount has been allocated to connect 28 087 homes during the 2002/3 period. There are also initiatives to promote the use of non-grid technologies, such as solar power, to counter the problem of costs associated with transporting power over long from the established grid. In another development, Eskom’s decision to spend R4-million upgrading power supplies to the East London area will boost investor confidence in the region, says Eskom regional engineering manager Willie de Beer. De Beer said the project – described as “a vote of confidence in the region” - would start February 2003, and would be completed within three months. De Beer said Eskom was ready to supply a planned wheat beer brewery and SA Condomi's condom factory in the East London Industrial Development Zone with the initial power supply. "The full extent of the demand has however not yet been defined. Once the two developments are up and running we would have to increase our capital investment.”