African Rural Electrification: The Importance of Network Decentralization and Government Ideology

Ishmael Ackah () and Franky Kogueda ()
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Ishmael Ackah: Accra, Ghana
Franky Kogueda: Douala Cameroon

No 26/059, Working Papers from European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS)

Abstract: Electricity allocation efficiency remains a great problem for developing countries in general and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries in particular. Indeed, compared to developed countries and the MENA zone countries on the same continent, SSA countries have difficulties in improving service access and reliability. To address the problem, we use a Tobit (Censored) PDS Lasso to estimate the factors of rural electrification by focusing on government ideology and decentralized supply as interest variables. We evaluate many factors to ensure the quality of the estimation. Our data come from the World Bank, IRENA and RISE for 40 SSA countries in the period between 2000 and 2023. We found that the government ideology (left) has a predictive effect on rural electrification of the population. This result justifies the importance of a left-government ideology for rural allocation of electricity. The decentralized supply of electricity has a positive predictive effect on rural electrification. Results by sub-regions which are heterogenous are provided and discussed. Policy implications are also discussed.

Keywords: Rural Electrification; Decentralized Supply; Government Ideology; Sub-Saharan; Machine Learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H11 O13 O18 P16 Q48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2026-01
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