Unpacking the effect of coup d’état on energy poverty in Africa

Energy poverty continues to be a significant and severe concern in Africa, hindering both socio-economic growth and the fulfilment of core human demands. Many African countries’ historical development paths were significantly impacted by coups d’états. The recent spike in coup d’états across Africa over the past three years has rekindled academic arguments about the causes and, particularly, effects of these events. This paper, therefore, attempts to investigate the effect of coups on energy poverty in a panel of 46 African countries over the period 2000-2020. Additionally, it examines the transmission channel through which coups affect energy poverty. Empirical results show that coups increase energy poverty. These results remained robust to additional controls, to alternative subsamples, to alternative coup d’état measures (consisting of successful, failed, military, and civil coups), to alternative measures of energy poverty, and to the use of the Entropy Balancing Method (EBM). The mediation analysis provides evidence that coups increase energy poverty through their effects on education, economic growth, political stability, and international sanctions. Based on these results, policy recommendations have been formulated.