Challenges and opportunities in ensuring clean and affordable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Over the past decade, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has made notable progress in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7); yet, achieving universal access to clean and affordable energy remains a pressing challenge. The existing literature treats SSA as a homogeneous region, and the implementation challenges and opportunities unique to sub-regions are underexplored. This study explores both the challenges and opportunities for advancing SDG 7 across sub-regions of SSA using World Bank datasets. It employs Pareto chart analysis to identify priorities from sub-regions, country levels, and core components of SDG 7. Pareto chart analysis is a powerful quality analysis tool that provides pathways for strategic interventions. Importantly, conventional indicators of electricity or clean cooking fail to capture adequacy and sustainability. This study uses final energy consumption per person as an energy poverty index. Findings highlight the strategic importance of expanding electricity access in Central Africa and accelerating clean cooking adoption in all sub-regions, with urgent interventions required in Nigeria (3.1 kWh/person/year), Ethiopia (4.5 kWh/person/year), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (4.6 kWh/person/year). Nigeria and Ethiopia account for 30% and 29.4% of the regional electricity and clean cooking energy deficits, respectively, underscoring their pivotal role in shaping progress. Therefore, prioritized and targeted interventions are essential for accelerating progress towards universal, clean, and affordable energy in SSA.