Microfinance and Polycentric Governance as Strategies for Renewable Energy Deployment in Urban Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is one of the least electrified regions in the world and also a region that is characterized by poverty and inequality due to high levels of climate change vulnerability. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, SSA policymakers are compelled to devise new innovative strategies and policies to enhance investments in renewable energy technologies (RETs). Accordingly, this chapter provides an assessment of some strategies to accelerate RET deployment and the potential of polycentric governance systems to improve RET deployment. The assessment concluded that even though renewable energy investments through climate finance and microfinance modalities are not at a level sufficient to ensure that universal energy access can be attained in the region, SSA can still accelerate its progress on RET deployment by utilizing nationally determined contributions as instruments to direct South-South aid, trade, and investments into priority renewable energy sub-sectors.