A Gender Aware Approach to Legal and Policy Strategies for Achieving Access to Modern Energy Services in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author(s):  
Judith Gardam

This book chapter first outlines the facts in relation to energy and poverty globally, with a particular emphasis on the sub-Saharan Africa region. Secondly, the impact of gender on how energy poverty is experienced is explained. Then it considers the growing recognition in international, regional, and national initiatives of the link between access to modern energy services, women, and poverty and what legal and policy strategies have been adopted in response. Finally, the chapter provides some thoughts on possible future responses to improving the prevailing situation and the obstacles that must be surmounted in the achievement of a gender aware approach to energy access.

2015 ◽  
Vol 1116 ◽  
pp. 33-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mukhtar Bello

Worldwide, developing countries struggle to overcome numerous problems that constrain their socio-economic development. Sub-Saharan African countries represent a good example of developing countries with serious developmental challenges. Thus, this chapter presents a critical analysis on the socio-economic situation in Sub-Saharan Africa and the links between limited access to modern energy services and the prevailing socio-economic circumstance. It discusses the expected roles of renewable energy technologies in increasing energy access in the region and highlights important factors that influence extensive deployment of renewable energy technologies for sustainable development. Reliable statistical data on both the Human Development Index (HDI) and Energy Development Index (EDI) rankings indicate that most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa lie far below the world average and as a region, Sub-Saharan Africa scores least. There is high level of poverty and inadequate social services, which is attributed to acute shortage of modern energy services. In Sub-Saharan Africa, over 70% of the population lack reliable access to electricity and modern cooking fuels, which represents a large proportion of the „energy poor‟ in the world. Lack of access to modern energy services limits economic and agricultural opportunities, negatively affects the environment, promotes gender inequality and constrains delivery of social services such as health care delivery system and education. Thus, one of the biggest developmental challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa is to find effective and pragmatic solutions for increasing energy access. Sub-Saharan Africa is richly endowed with renewable energy resources such as biomass, wind, solar, hydropower and geothermal, which largely remain unexploited. The renewable energy resources are widely available throughout the region unlike the conventional fossil-based resources, that is, coal, oil and gas, which are concentrated within very few countries. Therefore, the renewable energy resources if properly and fully utilized can provide clean, affordable and reliable energy services that will promote socio-economic activities and support sustainable development.


Author(s):  
Dalal Aassouli ◽  
Mehmet Asutay ◽  
Mahmoud Mohieldin ◽  
Tochukwu Chiara Nwokike

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10-3) ◽  
pp. 238-246
Author(s):  
Olga Dzhenchakova

The article considers the impact of the colonial past of some countries in sub-Saharan Africa and its effect on their development during the post-colonial period. The negative consequences of the geopolitical legacy of colonialism are shown on the example of three countries: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Angola, expressed in the emergence of conflicts in these countries based on ethno-cultural, religious and socio-economic contradictions. At the same time, the focus is made on the economic factor and the consequences of the consumer policy of the former metropolises pursuing their mercantile interests were mixed.


Author(s):  
Peter Kayode Oniemola ◽  
Jane Ezirigwe

To achieve universal energy access will attract huge capital investments. If sub-Saharan Africa is to realize anything close to the ambitious goals set for its energy access, then new actors, innovative funding mechanisms and sustainable technologies will have to be attracted. Finance is needed for activities such as rural electrification, clean cooking facilities, diesel motors and generators, other renewable energy technologies, oil and gas infrastructures, etc. Finance is also needed in research and development of suitable technologies and funding options as well as investment in the capacity to formulate and implement sound energy policies. This chapter examines the varied financing options for energy access in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that with appropriate laws in place and effective mechanism for implementation, African countries can significantly engage private sector financing, international financial institutions and foreign donors. The role of the law here will be in creating an enabling environment for financing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. e25243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Cambiano ◽  
Cheryl C Johnson ◽  
Karin Hatzold ◽  
Fern Terris‐Prestholt ◽  
Hendy Maheswaran ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2128
Author(s):  
Amollo Ambole ◽  
Kweku Koranteng ◽  
Peris Njoroge ◽  
Douglas Logedi Luhangala

Energy communities have received considerable attention in the Global North, especially in Europe, due to their potential for achieving sustainable energy transitions. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), energy communities have received less attention partly due to the nascent energy systems in many emerging SSA states. In this paper, we argue that these nascent energy systems offer an opportunity to co-create energy communities that can tackle the energy access challenges faced by most SSA countries. To understand how such energy communities are realised in the sub-region, we undertake a systematic review of research on energy communities in 46 SSA countries. Our findings show that only a few energy projects exhibit the conventional characteristics of energy communities; In most of these projects, local communities are inadequately resourced to institute and manage their own projects. We thus look to stakeholder engagement approaches to propose co-design as a strategy for strengthening energy communities in SSA. We further embed our co-design proposal in energy democracy thinking to argue that energy communities can be a pathway towards equity and energy justice in SSA. We conclude that energy communities can indeed contribute to improving energy access in Africa, but they need an enabling policy environment to foster their growth and sustainability.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3916
Author(s):  
Kimball C. Chen ◽  
Matthew Leach ◽  
Mairi J. Black ◽  
Meron Tesfamichael ◽  
Francis Kemausuor ◽  
...  

Energy supply for clean cooking is a priority for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, i.e., propane or butane or a mixture of both) is an economically efficient, cooking energy solution used by over 2.5 billion people worldwide and scaled up in numerous low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Investigation of the technical, policy, economic and physical requirements of producing LPG from renewable feedstocks (bioLPG) finds feasibility at scale in Africa. Biogas and syngas from the circular economic repurposing of municipal solid waste and agricultural waste can be used in two groundbreaking new chemical processes (Cool LPG or Integrated Hydropyrolysis and Hydroconversion (IH2)) to selectively produce bioLPG. Evidence about the nature and scale potential of bioLPG presented in this study justifies further investment in the development of bioLPG as a fuel that can make a major contribution toward enabling an SSA green economy and universal energy access. Techno-economic assessments of five potential projects from Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda illustrate what might be possible. BioLPG technology is in the early days of development, so normal technology piloting and de-risking need to be undertaken. However, fully developed bioLPG production could greatly reduce the public and private sector investment required to significantly increase SSA clean cooking capacity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1780
Author(s):  
Chima M. Menyelim ◽  
Abiola A. Babajide ◽  
Alexander E. Omankhanlen ◽  
Benjamin I. Ehikioya

This study evaluates the relevance of inclusive financial access in moderating the effect of income inequality on economic growth in 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period 1995 to 2017. The findings using the Generalised Method of Moments (sys-GMM) technique show that inclusive financial access contributes to reducing inequality in the short run, contrary to the Kuznets curve. The result reveals a negative effect of financial access on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth. There is a positive net effect of inclusive financial access in moderating the impact of income inequality on economic growth. Given the need to achieve the Sustainable Development Targets in the sub-region, policymakers and other stakeholders of the economy must design policies and programmes that would enhance access to financial services as an essential mechanism to reduce income disparity and enhance sustainable economic growth.


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