Towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 in sub‐Saharan Africa: Role of governance and renewable energy

Energy poverty plagues the sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) region and impedes its socio‐economic development. It is impossible to attain sustainable‐development without alleviating energy‐poverty. In this study, we examine the role of governance and renewable‐energy in alleviating energy poverty for 22 SSA countries from 2000 to 2018 using system generalised method‐of‐moments and three‐stage least‐squares models. Government expenditure is found to increase economic growth, which in turn, reduces energy poverty. On the other hand, energy poverty is found to initially increase and then fall with rising renewable‐energy share. Additionally, the association of energy poverty with socio‐economic, environmental and governance factors, is analysed within a structural‐equation modelling (SEM) framework. Our SEM model shows that government institutional‐factors remain central to reducing energy poverty without compromising environmental‐sustainability. This study suggests that SSA needs transparent governance, strong institutions and a rising renewable‐energy share along with a resilient grid infrastructure to address the energy poverty problem.