Rethinking energy poverty interventions: Capabilities-informed stakeholder perspectives in Kumasi, Ghana

Access to a reliable energy supply remains central to the socio-economic development of countries around the world. It also forms the basis for individuals' proper functioning in achieving relevant capabilities. However, a larger proportion of sub-Saharan Africa faces an unreliable power supply. Progress towards achieving SDG 7 is undermined by unaffordable and poor services, despite extensive infrastructural investment over the past decades. This is the case even among grid-connected households. Employing the capability approach and Q-methodology, this paper captures the perspectives of 40 stakeholders in Kumasi, providing insights into persistent energy challenges. The paper identifies four interrelated policy failure viewpoints that perpetuate energy poverty in the region. They include affordability and governance constraints, implementation and socio-cultural hindrances, social inclusion bottlenecks, and access and delivery gaps. Areas of consensus were also identified among stakeholders that call for immediate policy action. Even though divergent viewpoints were identified, we argue that once the consensus areas are resolved, these diverse perspectives will be addressed simultaneously. The findings show the need to prioritise consensus-driven strategies to address structural barriers, offering a novel approach to aligning stakeholders' views with targeted energy policy design. Based on the findings, we further argue that technological expansion alone, which has been the major policy approach in the past, is insufficient to eradicate energy poverty. Structural, institutional and distributional factors shape patterns of energy usage. The paper contributes to energy poverty scholarship and provides evidence-based policies to avert this trajectory.