Africa’s Energy Renewal: The Twin Challenges of Energy Deficit and Climate Change

AbstractA significantly large energy deficit and high vulnerability to climate change seriously impede sub-Saharan Africa’s path towards sustainable and inclusive growth. The extent to which the region can leverage the opportunities offered by renewable energy is an important policy question with implications for economic research. This special issue argues that policy and institutional reforms as well as good governance will play an important role in opening up the energy sector to private investment and expanding the fiscal space. Such a constellation, by increasing investment in the energy sector, would allow for increased access to reliable and affordable electricity by both households and businesses, which should help unleash Africa’s potential. Several future areas of research are also identified.

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Energy sector vulnerability to climate change: A review

Energy ◽

10.1016/j.energy.2011.11.056 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 217

Author(s):

Roberto Schaeffer ◽

Alexandre Salem Szklo ◽

André Frossard Pereira de Lucena ◽

Bruno Soares Moreira Cesar Borba ◽

Larissa Pinheiro Pupo Nogueira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Energy Sector ◽

Vulnerability To Climate Change

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Growth Narrative of Bangladesh Economy

The Making of Contemporary Maldives: Isolation, Dictatorship and Democracy ◽

10.52823/mjkd3752 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Fahmida Khatun

Keyword(s):

Structural Changes ◽

Resource Constraints ◽

Good Governance ◽

Private Investment ◽

Good Health ◽

Formal Sector ◽

Institutional Reforms ◽

Term Performance

Bangladesh has made impressive progress and undergone structural changes over the last five decades despite resource constraints and various social and political challenges. However, while in the long-term, its economic growth is remarkable, the short-term performance is somewhat disappointing. Moreover, while the average and aggregate numbers paint an inspiring image, disaggregated indicators do not often support the apparent good health of the economy. This paper brings out two issues: (i) what have been the growth drivers of Bangladesh economy, and (ii) what have been the outcomes of growth. It also makes a number of recommendations for maintaining, expediting and sustaining the growth momentum. The article recommends for more employment generation in the formal sector, reduction of inequality, mobilization of higher domestic resources, energizing private investment, and above all, ensuring good governance. The paper emphasizes on continuous institutional reforms to improve the quality of growth and ensure distributional justice in Bangladesh.

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Gender Norms, Technology Access, and Women Farmers’ Vulnerability to Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa

Climate Change Management - Agriculture and Ecosystem Resilience in Sub Saharan Africa ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-12974-3_32 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 715-728

Author(s):

M. N. Mangheni ◽

H. A. Tufan ◽

L. Nkengla ◽

B. O. Aman ◽

B. Boonabaana

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Gender Norms ◽

Women Farmers ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Technology Access ◽

Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽

Sub Saharan

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Does Good Governance Matter more for Energy Investment? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Journal of African Economies ◽

10.1093/jae/ejz023 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (6) ◽

pp. i16-i40 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Amadou N R Sy ◽

Mariama Sow

Keyword(s):

Good Governance ◽

Private Investment ◽

Political Stability ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Energy Investment ◽

Chinese Investment ◽

Governance Indicators ◽

Resource Rents ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

World Governance Indicators

Abstract This paper examines the relationship between three global priorities: access to energy, good governance, and financing for development. Using the World Governance Indicators (WGI), it finds that while governance matters for raising domestic revenues, its effect on external financing sources is mixed. Good governance, except for political stability, does not appear to matter much for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to oil exporting countries but is positively associated with FDI to oil importing countries. In contrast, official development finance (ODA) is positively associated with good governance. The bigger bang for improving governance is at home in the form of increased tax revenues (excluding resource rents). The paper also uses the newly developed Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) and finds that improved governance is associated with increased private investment and ODA to the energy sector. In contrast, Chinese investment to the sector appears not to be responsive to changes in governance.

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Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Need for Better Evidence

PLoS Medicine ◽

10.1371/journal.pmed.1001374 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. e1001374 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Nothemba Kula ◽

Andy Haines ◽

Robert Fryatt

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽

Sub Saharan

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Farmers’ Net Income Distribution and Regional Vulnerability to Climate Change: An Empirical Study of Bangladesh

10.20944/preprints201805.0306.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Md. Shah Alamgir ◽

Jun Furuya ◽

Shintaro Kobayashi ◽

Mostafiz Rubaiya Binte ◽

Md. Abdus Salam

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽

Regional Analysis ◽

Economic Research ◽

Climate Change Scenarios ◽

Severe Problem ◽

Climate Change Vulnerability ◽

Agricultural Income ◽

Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽

Regional Vulnerability

Widespread poverty is the most serious threat and social problem that Bangladesh faces. Regional vulnerability to climate change threatens to escalate the magnitude of this poverty. It is essential that projections of poverty be made while bearing in mind the effects of climate change. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the agrarian sub-national regional analysis of climate change vulnerability in Bangladesh under various climate change scenarios and its potential impact on poverty. This study is relevant to socio-economic research on climate change vulnerability and agriculture risk management and has the potential to contribute new insights to the complex interactions in household income and climate change risks to agricultural communities in Bangladesh and South Asia. The current study uses analysis of variance, cluster analysis, decomposition of variance and log-normal distribution to estimate the parameters of income variability that ascertain vulnerability levels and help us to understand the poverty levels that climate change could potentially incur. It is found that the income share in income sources revealed that income category shares across the various regions of Bangladesh are far from uniform. The variance decomposition of income showed that agricultural income in Mymensingh and Rangpur is the main cause of income difference. Moreover, large variance of agricultural income in the regions is induced by gross income from rice production. Additionally, constant reduction of rice yield due to climate change in Bangladesh is not such a severe problem for farmers, however, the extreme events like flood, flash flood, drought, sea level rise, and greenhouse gas emission based on RCPs could increase the poverty rates in Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Barisal, and Khulna regions that would be highly affected by unexpected yield loss due to extreme climatic events. Therefore, research and development of adaptation measures to climate change for regions where farmers are largely dependent on agricultural income is important.

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A multi-dimensional assessment of urban vulnerability to climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa

Natural Hazards ◽

10.1007/s11069-015-1856-x ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 82 (S2) ◽

pp. 149-172 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Lise Byskov Herslund ◽

Fatemeh Jalayer ◽

Nathalie Jean-Baptiste ◽

Gertrud Jørgensen ◽

Sigrun Kabisch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Urban Vulnerability ◽

Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Dimensional Assessment

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Farmers’ Net Income Distribution and Regional Vulnerability to Climate Change: An Empirical Study of Bangladesh

Climate ◽

10.3390/cli6030065 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 65 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Md. ALAMGIR ◽

Jun FURUYA ◽

Shintaro KOBAYASHI ◽

Mostafiz BINTE ◽

Md. SALAM

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Regional Analysis ◽

Economic Research ◽

Climate Change Scenarios ◽

Adaptation Measures ◽

Severe Problem ◽

Climate Change Vulnerability ◽

Agricultural Income ◽

Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽

Regional Vulnerability

Widespread poverty is the most serious threat and social problem that Bangladesh faces. Regional vulnerability to climate change threatens to escalate the magnitude of poverty. It is essential that poverty projections be estimated while bearing in mind the effects of climate change. The main purpose of this paper is to perform an agrarian sub-national regional analysis of climate change vulnerability in Bangladesh under various climate change scenarios and evaluate its potential impact on poverty. This study is relevant to socio-economic research on climate change vulnerability and agriculture risk management and has the potential to contribute new insights to the complex interactions between household income and climate change risks to agricultural communities in Bangladesh and South Asia. This study uses analysis of variance, cluster analysis, decomposition of variance and log-normal distribution to estimate the parameters of income variability that can be used to ascertain vulnerability levels and help us to understand the poverty levels that climate change could potentially generate. It is found that the levels and sources of income vary greatly among regions of Bangladesh. The variance decomposition of income showed that agricultural income in Mymensingh and Rangpur is the main cause of the total income difference among all sources of income. Moreover, a large variance in agricultural income among regions is induced by the gross income from rice production. Additionally, even in the long run the gradual, constant reduction of rice yield due to climate change in Bangladesh is not a severe problem for farmers. However, extreme events such as floods, flash floods, droughts, sea level rise and greenhouse gas emissions, based on Representative concentration pathways (RCPs), could increase the poverty rates in Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Barisal and Khulna—regions that would be greatly affected by unexpected yield losses due to extreme climatic events. Therefore, research into and development of adaptation measures to climate change in regions where farmers are largely dependent on agricultural income are important.

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