Rich in the dark: Natural resources and energy poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa

Despite the abundant resources with which Africa is endowed, this region of the world is also, paradoxically, the least enlightened, with a low rate of access to electricity and a high propensity to use fuels for cooking. Based on this paradoxical observation, this study proposes to analyse the effect of natural resources on energy poverty in a panel of 45 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1997-2018. Energy poverty is measured mainly by access to electricity and the following results are established. First, natural resource-dependent countries in sub-Saharan Africa are associated with greater energy poverty. Second, point resources (oil, gas and mineral rents) accentuate energy poverty, unlike diffuse resources (forest rents). However, we show that this situation is not irreversible, as democracy, especially liberal, participatory and egalitarian democracies, mitigate the effect of natural resources on energy poverty.

Automated summary

This study aims to analyze the impact of natural resources on energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The results indicate that resource-dependent countries and point resources (oil, gas, and mineral rents) exacerbate energy poverty, while diffuse resources (forest rents) do not have the same effect. However, democratic systems can mitigate the impact of natural resources on energy poverty.