Enhancing Sustainable Development and Regional Integration through Electrification by Solar Power: The Case of Six East African States

Abstract

The need to enhance energy access has led to the growing recognition of renewable energy sources in sustainable regional development. However, solar power, one of the less polluting renewable energy sources, continues to receive little attention in some developing countries seeking balanced development. Through a review of the literature, this paper examines the need for regional electrification by solar power and suggests measures to integrate regional energy policies and processes for balanced development. The authors find that there are many social, economic, and environmental benefits associated with using solar power. For instance, solar energy creates employment opportunities, reduces a country’s foreign dependence, improves freedom of choice, improves a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and human development index (HDI), and is associated with improved environmental conservation. The region of East Africa is keen to reap these sustainable development gains through solar power electrification. The establishment of the East African Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency constitutes an important melting pot for diverse renewable energy policies, in addition to confirming a commitment to solar power deployment. Moreover, some East African Community (EAC) states appear to be progressing faster towards regional solar power projects, while other states are lagging due to complex contextual challenges. However, the overall contribution of solar power to sustainable development remains low, as individual states appear to be focused on developing their national solar power projects. Nonetheless, there is great hope for regional development through shared solar power development if EAC states implement a number of regulatory and voluntary interventions.

Analysis of barriers affecting the adoption of community solar from consumer's perspective: A hybrid ISM-DEMATEL approach

“…6 In the context of financial feasibility, studies have acknowledged that feed-in-tariff (FIT) policies are more feasible than alternative schemes in the view of long-term financial feasibility from the consumer perspective. 21 In a similar line, Chisika and Yeom 22 also pointed out that FIT policies are prerequisites for solar power propagation. Egan 23 focused on the economical perspective by throwing light on cost-effective policies highlighting approaches like net metering, meter aggregation, energy-saving, and renewable energy certificates (RECs).…”

Innovative Leadership in Addressing Climate Change: A Pathway towards Sustainable Futures

“…Innovative leadership within M-Kopa Solar has enabled the development of user-friendly solar home systems and the establishment of mobile payment systems that make clean energy accessible to low-income individuals (Mutongwa & Abeka, 2020). By reducing reliance on fossil fuels and improving energy access, M-Kopa Solar's efforts contribute to climate change mitigation in the region while also improving livelihoods and reducing poverty (Chisika & Yeom, 2021).…”

Smart Energy Urban Agglomerations in China: The Driving Mechanism, Basic Concepts, and Indicator Evaluation

“…The three steps of the conceptual analysis in this paper are illustrated by Figure Firstly, the concept connotation is obtained by reviewing the literature referring to driving mechanisms. We reviewed the examples of literature on regional energy syst optimization [44][45][46][47] and collaborative optimization of smart energy systems and oth systems [37,48]. Together with China's policies about urban agglomeration construct and energy system integration [24,26,49], we summarized driving forces of SEUA dev opment.…”