Título: Beyond Growth: The Role of Institutional Quality in Alleviating Energy Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa
Ponente: Roula Inglesi-Lotz, Department of Economics (University of Pretoria)
Fecha y hora: 20/11/2025, 11:15
Contexto: este seminario forma parte del Workshop «Energy poverty, well-being and sustainability in a ecological transition» (clic aquí para más información)
Inscripción online a este seminario (cierre 30 minutos antes del inicio): https://forms.gle/9Fd5BzjyjR2GBY8W7
Lugar: Salón de Grados del Edificio Valona y online
Organizador: Carlos Gutiérrez Hita
Abstract:
Across the world, the lights do not shine equally. For many in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the absence of basic access to energy remains a daily reality, limiting education, constraining productivity, and deepening inequality. Despite decades of investment and sustained economic growth in parts of the region, energy poverty persists (Adom et al., 2021). Why? This paper argues that the missing link lies not only in capital or technology, but in governance, specifically, the control of corruption. Corruption diverts public funds, weakens energy institutions, inflates project costs, and erodes trust, ensuring that even when the grid expands, its benefits do not (Acheampong et al., 2023; Aluko et al., 2023).
Using panel data for 34 SSA countries from 2002–2022, this study examines how corruption control shapes the effectiveness of economic growth in reducing energy poverty. Energy poverty is proxied through access to electricity, access to clean cooking, renewable energy consumption, and a composite Energy Development Index providing insights into the region’s progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 7 (universal access to affordable and clean energy). We employ an Instrumental Variable Generalized Method of Moments (IV-GMM) estimator with Driscoll–Kraay standard errors to account for cross-sectional dependence, endogeneity, heteroscedasticity, and autocorrelation. Recognising the diversity of SSA economies, the analysis further explores income-based heterogeneity by splitting the sample into income groups.
Preliminary findings suggest that, on aggregate, controlling corruption strengthens the capacity of economic growth to reduce energy poverty in the region. In low-income countries, corruption control enhances the impact of growth on clean cooking access and overall energy development; in lower-middle-income countries, it amplifies electricity access; and in upper-middle and high-income countries, it promotes broader energy development. Where corruption is effectively curbed, economic growth translates into meaningful energy access – where it thrives, the link between prosperity and progress is broken.