Peripheral electricity generation in Southern Africa: shifting regional landscapes

South Africa has been the primary supplier of electricity to the Southern African region for the past few decades, using coal-fired power stations for generation. As South Africa’s lack of investment in renewables has led to a declining power supply and worsening blackouts (Reuters, 2023), neighbouring countries have forged ahead in generating energy from renewable technologies, effectively “leapfrogging” over a reliance on fossil fuels (Hastie, 2024). There is a growing demand for electricity in the countries neighbouring South Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho, due to programmes of electrification for citizens as well as economic growth. Drawing on the specific case studies of Namibia and Eswatini, plus document analysis from the region, the paper makes two key contributions. Firstly, that the rapidly shifting electricity landscape in Southern Africa is changing the economic dynamics of the region, with an impact on regional geo-politics, introducing the term ‘peripheral electricity generation’ to characterise this process. Secondly, that whilst this process has the potential to bring about opportunity for the region, attention must be paid to the risks of neocolonialism and extractivism with energy investments to avoid perpetuating uneven development. The findings have wide ranging implications for research and for understanding the future of changing relations within the Southern African Development Region.