The Politics of Energy and Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

The global sustainable development agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), places energy systems—technologies to improve energy access, increase renewable energy generation, and tap energy efficiency—at its core to deliver what the United Nations General Assembly envisaged to be sustainable development for “people, prosperity and planet.” But a fourth “p”—for politics—needs to be enmeshed in this framework. This chapter maps the extant literature on the connections between the politics of energy systems and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa, a region where most of the world’s energy poor live. A focus on the politics of energy and sustainable development for people, prosperity, and planet remains a rich, yet understudied, frontier for future research. This chapter suggests an inclusive, interdisciplinary, and influential research agenda.