Cluster-Based Renewable Energy Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Theory of Change for Sustainable Energy Transitions

This article examines how a cluster-based approach to renewable energy development can support sustainable energy transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although the region faces persistent energy access deficits, affordability constraints, and institutional barriers, it also possesses substantial renewable energy potential. Standalone, project-based energy interventions are unlikely to produce durable energy systems unless they are embedded in broader processes of local capability-building, market integration, and institutional collaboration. In contrast, energy systems clusters can align infrastructure, workforce development, technology transfer, policy coordination, and market-building activities within regionally grounded ecosystems. Drawing on cluster theory and comparative examples from solar and wind energy industrial clusters, the article proposes a theory of change for localized renewable energy clusters in Sub-Saharan Africa. The change framework emphasizes systems that support talent and workforce development, environmental and natural resource governance, specialized infrastructure development, market information systems, export promotion and investment support mechanisms as mutually reinforcing inputs for long-term energy self-sufficiency, economic development, and decarbonization