Access to modern energy is central in addressing the major global
challenges of the 21st century, including poverty, climate change and
famine. However large parts of the world, especially in Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) have poor or no access to modern energy. Victoria Nalule
argues that SSA countries have many common energy challenges which could
be tackled with collective efforts through regional cooperation. By
means of a legal and comparative analysis and a seven-step framework,
the book explores the current regional mechanisms employed in Africa to
address the challenge of energy poverty and access and whether they are
effective in tackling the challenge of energy access, including regional
energy infrastructure and regional energy regulations.
Chapters discuss the evolution of regionalism in SSA and the role of
regional cooperation in the development of renewable energy as a means
of confronting both energy access and climate change. Specifically the
nexus between energy access, renewable energy and climate change is
covered as well as the potential of fossil fuels in addressing energy
poverty. The establishment and development of regional energy
infrastructure as one of the mechanisms of addressing energy access
challenges in SSA and regional efforts to harmonise energy regulation
are explored. Finally a concluding chapter provides recommendations for
policy makers and other relevant stakeholders on how best to implement
some of the suggestions made in previous chapters. International
organisations, regional organisations, government officials, scholars
and students with interest in the energy sector will highly benefit from
this book.
