Decentralization: the key to accelerating access to distributed energy services in sub-Saharan Africa?

Abstract

The decentralization of governance is increasingly considered crucial for delivering development and is being widely adopted in sub-Saharan countries. At the same time, distributed (decentralized) energy systems are increasingly recognized for their role in achieving universal access to energy and are being promoted in sub-Saharan countries. However, little attention has been paid by governments and energy practitioners to the dynamic interrelationships between national and local government and the role of governance decentralization in transitioning to distributed energy systems. This paper traces the complex relationships between accelerated delivery of distributed energy and decentralized local governance systems. The argument is grounded in an exploration of two different approaches to decentralized energy systems governance in Kenya and Malawi. For Kenya, analysis focuses on the energy sector since the adoption of the new decentralized constitution in 2010. In Malawi, it focuses on the involvement of the authors in piloting Local Authority Energy Officers in districts under the decentralization of Malawian energy policy. Our analysis shows that accelerating the speed and scale of implementation for distributed energy systems and enhancing their sustainability and socio-economic impacts is directly linked to the quality of local and national governance structures and their interrelationships. The paper extends existing work in energy and evidence literacy for policy actors by developing an analytical framework, to enable more effective local governance within energy access initiatives in the Global South.

Achieving Energy Justice in Malawi: From key Challenges to Policy Recommendations

“…This reminds us that the "bullying" of foreign sources in national energy management to promote renewables, as perceived in the literature (Monyei et al, 2018;Todd et al, 2019), can be rather symptomatic of an existing failed or doomed national management of the transition. The result is that we support calls for greater decentralization (Lawrence, 2020;Wiese, 2020;Zalengera et al, 2020).…”

Achieving energy justice in Malawi: from key challenges to policy recommendations

“…This reminds us that the 'bullying' of foreign sources in national energy management to promote renewables, as perceived in the literature (Monyei et al 2018;Todd et al 2019), can be rather symptomatic of an existing failed or doomed national management of the transition. The result is that we support calls for greater decentralisation (Lawrence 2020;Wiese 2020;Zalengera et al 2020).…”

The Role of Political Economy in Energy Access: Public and Private Off-Grid Electrification in Tanzania

“…They conclude that the political decision-making process and defining its details is critical to understand trade-offs between centralization and decentralization. Zalangera [32] applies the decentralization theorem directly to the energy access question by connecting the question of decentralization to the deployment of decentralized energy systems. He agrees that decentralized government triggers energy access with distributed energy systems.…”

“…However, this is not universally true. For instance, in Kenya due to globalization, international capital and technology flows, policy making is not just local, but strongly coupled to "localized access to and relations with transnational capital and global institutions" ( [32], p. 17).…”