The energy poverty nexus in the Middle East and North Africa

Energy access remains one of the forgotten millennium development goals, despite being a key ingredient to sustained and equitable socio-economic growth and development. This article looks at the energy poverty nexus in the Middle East and North Africa, a region frequently overlooked in the study of energy access owing to its significant hydrocarbon wealth, and the impact energy poverty has made on parts of the region. A closer look reveals the puzzling picture of a region divided between energy abundant states and states with continuingly high rates of lacking access to electricity and secure supply of modern fuels. The existence of some of the worst cases of energy poverty in the MENA in net exporters of oil and gas such as Yemen and Egypt further demonstrates that energy poverty is effectively a domestic distributive problem, rather than one caused by a country's lacking natural resources. The article explores the main causal factors and suggests short- and long-term policy remedies.