Electricity Access is not Enough: Multidimensional Energy Poverty and Neighbourhood Conditions in Accra, Ghana

Across Africa, cities have made significant advances in expanding electricity access. Yet many connected households continue to be energy poor, experiencing unreliable, unaffordable and inadequate services. Despite this, urban applications of multidimensional energy poverty measurement rarely capture this post-access type of deprivation. This paper investigates multidimensional energy poverty in Accra, Ghana, linking household survey data to neighbourhood-form measures. The findings indicate that 17.8% of households are acutely energy-poor in this high-access metropolis. Affordability contributes the largest share of overall deprivation (37%), followed by digital access (26%), utility/health services (18%), and reliability (18%). Spatially, neighbourhood built intensity is the most consistent predictor, with a onestandard-deviation increase associated with a 78% higher likelihood of acute energy poverty after controlling for socioeconomic and housing factors. This built-intensity association is also concentrated among renter households, who are almost twice as likely as owner households to be acutely energy poor and have less control over housing and electricity arrangements. As African cities continue to strive for universal connection, the energy-access agenda must shift from extending grids to securing adequate services. Policy should therefore pair affordability protection with tenure-sensitive, spatially targeted infrastructure improvement.