Meeting the targets of the Paris Agreement: an analysis of renewable energy (RE) governance systems in West Africa (WA)

摘要

Africa is at cross-roads. On the one hand, there are opportunities. The continent possess significant renewable energy potential. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that modern renewable energy potential amounts to 310 gigawatts (GW). This could provide half of the continent's total electricity generation capacity. On the other hand, there are challenges, skepticism and cautions about energy transition induced -stranded assets and debates on alternative sources of revenues beyond oil. Whilst these dynamics have received attention in the energy transition literature, there is dearth of studies on energy governance and how it can help drive the transition. Therefore, based on a desktop review, the paper seeks to examine the renewable governance systems in West Africa, and the European Union (EU). The paper shows that whilst West Africa has renewable energy potential and some level of national energy governance structures, private sector investment is limited. Lack of transparency, power sector financial challenges, overdependence on donor funding and high interest rate may account for this. Though regional and sub-regional initiatives have been implemented to overcome some of these challenges, there is more room for improvement. Indeed, unlike the EU, most of the sub-regional and regional targets appear not to be mandatory and there are limited economic instruments to attract the private sector.