Women’s empowerment and renewable energy consumption in Ghana: bridging gender disparities and advancing inclusive development

Despite the pressing need to accelerate renewable energy consumption (RE/REC) to achieve universal energy access and climate goals, the critical role of women as primary energy users remains underexplored in contemporary literature and energy policy. This study investigates the relationship between women’s empowerment (WE) and renewable energy consumption in Ghana, a focal point in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration technique based on annual time-series data from 1980 to 2020, we find that women's socio-economic and political empowerment positively influence REC in both the short and long run but the effect is significant with the former. Additionally, GDP per capita, foreign direct investment, and human capital enhance REC, whereas urbanization exerts a negative effect. We also use Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR) to support our findings. Further analysis using Granger Causality test shows a unidirectional link from WE to REC. Finally, we use a novel Kernel-based Regularized Least Squares (KRLS) approach to show that REC increases at higher levels of WE. The study recommends implementing gender-sensitive financing, supporting women-led renewable energy enterprises, and enhancing female participation in energy governance to leverage WE for sustainable energy transitions in Ghana.