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African countries are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change impacts, including food insecurity, droughts, and floods, despite the continent’s minimal contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the same time, there are more than 600 million Africans who are left without access to electricity, and almost 900 million Africans use traditional fuels (biomass) for cooking. These compounding issues necessitate bold and just energy planning, one that guarantees environmental sustainability and economic and social equity. In this milieu, this study examines the role of energy efficiency in the just transition in Africa. The study employed the two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (sys-GMM) technique on data covering 2000 to 2020 for 49 selected African countries. The difference-GMM and the Driscoll/Kraay augmented fixed effects methods were used to check the robustness of the results. Our empirical findings reveal that energy efficiency, measured in terms of renewable energy consumption and energy intensity, is a catalyst for the just transition in Africa. The results show that increasing renewable energy consumption and reducing energy intensity can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stimulate employment creation, enhance electricity access, and mitigate income inequality in Africa. These findings offered important policy insights in Africa, highlighting the need for investments in renewable energy, energy-efficient technologies, and decentralized renewable energy systems to promote a just and equitable transition to a low-carbon economy.
Mumuni et al. (Fri,) studied this question.