Paper short abstract:

In Central Africa, the off-grid solar market is expanding rapidly. The process is conceptualised by existing literatures as a development panacea. The proposed paper argues that, on the contrary, it carries the potential to reproduce rather than alleviate North-South inequities and dependencies.

Paper long abstract:

The off-grid solar market in Central Africa is expanding rapidly, driven by a mix of foreign direct investment and development finance, both emanating almost exclusively from the global North. The techno-economic literature advocating its continued expansion is underpinned by a central assumption that this process will act as a development panacea, reducing poverty and catalysing transformative processes of economic development. This assumption is generally supported by the development literature exploring the relationship between expanded access to off-grid solar energy and economic development in the global South, which finds positive effects primarily through increased household income and savings.

Through the presentation of data from a firm survey conducted in August and September 2020 in Burundi, Rwanda and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the proposed paper first establishes the size of this sector, its dominance by Northern firms, and its aggressive plans for future growth. Next, through a theoretical reframing of the existing literature, the paper challenges its foundational premise of off-grid solar as development panacea, arguing instead that in the African context it might more appropriately be conceptualised as a trojan horse; outwardly benign, but carrying within the potential to reproduce rather than alleviate North-South inequities and dependencies. The paper concludes that the existing literature would benefit from a heightened appreciation for the possibility that the developmental effects of this rapidly growing sector will not rest on the expanded energy access it generates per se, but rather the broader institutional political economy framework within which this expansion takes place.