Abstract Book of the 5th World Conference on Climate Change and Global Warming
Year: 2025
DOI:
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Stimulating The Local Market for Clean Energy in Sub-Saharan Africa Through Decentralised Initiatives – A Case Study in Uganda
Charles Mbalyohere
ABSTRACT:
Most of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are still struggling with identifying the most effective strategies to enable access to affordable, reliable and clean energy for their populations and are unlikely to achieve the universal access that is the objective of the UN’s SDG 7. While intense efforts are underway to improve rates of access and some success has been achieved, reaching all the 650 million people currently having no or only limited access is- not a realistic target to be realised by 2030.
Different countries are pursuing different strategies to address the challenge. A common observation is the disparity between rates of energy access in urban areas compared to rural areas, with the latter areas facing major barriers, despite being home to the majority of the population. The paper looks at the case of Uganda and new efforts to address the challenge by stimulating the local market for clean energy through decentralized initiatives. Insights from a pilot study in Eastern Uganda are drawn on to inform strategic recommendations for accelerating access and the implications for SSA’s contributions to the global effort to address the climate change crisis. A mixed methods approach informs the data collection and analysis. The findings contribute to stakeholder and institutional theory-based interpretations and solutions for the situation.
Keywords: Affordable energy, rural areas, stakeholders, institutions, decentralisation, climate change