Energy Transition: Implications, Considerations, and Roadmap Development for Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract Climate change is no longer a myth and is evident worldwide in different alterations of the weather. Over the past two decades, scientists worked to find alternate sources of energy that were not fossil-based. Success in this endeavour led to what is now termed as a global transition to renewable and sustainable energy. In most climes, this marks a new beginning filled with opportunities and a chance to allow the earth to heal. Highly developed economies like Norway and some member countries of the European Union, being the driver of the transition, have begun to make policies that align with the new age, setting themselves to have a stake in the profit. The African continent, which has abundant energy resources but is neither a major contributor nor a driver of climate change but suffers just as much as other continents in the world from its effects, is not in a position to take any corrective action, showing the incapacity to participate in any potential economic gain. This paper studies the Sub-Saharan landscape by visiting the histories of the nations in question based on the energy resources within their borders and the current state of energy transition development. It examines the freedom of said countries to create policies that work for them, indicating the implications of lack of planning and the taint it may have on the new trend in the countries of interest. Efforts would also be made in highlighting a roadmap that can serve as a knowledge base to facilitate the implementation of best strategies in enabling successful energy transition in Sub-Saharan Africa.