Can gender approaches to promote clean energy entrepreneurship improve energy access and women empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Alleviating energy poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa requires innovative and decentralized solutions to provide energy access. To reach the most isolated markets, off-grid energy enterprises have adopted business models which integrate local entrepreneurs, many of which highlight women’s engagement. Literature and opinions on gender approaches to promote clean energy entrepreneurship are divided between those who advocate for women’s capacity to advance energy security and others who support energy entrepreneurship as an enabler for women’s empowerment. However, we should look first at both outcomes and ask: can gender approaches to promote clean energy entrepreneurship improve energy access and women empowerment? This dissertation aims to answer this question through the evidence from two off-grid energy businesses, Solar Sister and Nuru Energy. It becomes apparent that gender approaches to promote energy entrepreneurship can and do make vital contributions towards improving energy access while promoting women’s economic productivity and social wellbeing. However, evidence points out that gender approaches rely on context, objectives, and capacity to bring the structural transformations that energy security and true empowerment require.