Journal Special Issue
Prospects for Renewable Energy in Africa

This special section contains a series of five articles focused on energy and climate change in sub-Saharan Africa. It is well known that energy demand in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing rapidly and that many countries struggle to meet demand. Failure to meet energy demand reduces living standards today and constitutes a substantial brake on economic growth, with implications for future living standards 

Over the coming decades, African nations will invest hundreds of billions of dollars in power generation systems. The nature and scope of those investments remain to be determined. The needs are pressing, and the environment is complex. The articles in this special section point to both opportunities and challenges in exploiting sub-Saharan Africa’s considerable renewable energy potential in order to achieve desired development outcomes and power systems that are reliable, affordable, low carbon and climate resilient.