New directions in conditional policy transfer to sub-Saharan Africa: the case of renewable energy policy transfer to ECOWAS by the EU

ABSTRACT This article applies the policy transfer framework and the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to examine the transfer of renewable energy policy to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by the European Union (EU). The transfer of policy to ECOWAS was shaped by an asymmetrical power dynamic, the use of conditionality and narratives of allyship. I argue that the EU’s conditional policy transfer obstructs domestic policymaking in West Africa, and that its narrative of allyship is undermined by the focus on economic strength. Applying the policy transfer lens to the EU’s conditionality helps to position the engagement as coercive and to examine the recipient’s response to external interference.