Urbanization in Africa: Does Energy Poverty Matter?

The presence of energy poverty in Africa during the last two decades has increased considerably and it is an extremely plentiful literature. The aim of this article is to assess the effects of energy poverty on urbanization observed. Thus, we specify and estimate a panel data model of a sample of 54 African countries by the ordinary least squares (OLS) and fixed effects (FE) methods. The robustness of the results is assessed with the system generalized method of moments (S-GMM) over the period 2000-2020. Our results show that energy poverty (measured by access to electricity and access to clean energy for cooking) increases urbanization in Africa. We suggest a quantitative and qualitative strengthening of energy infrastructure for better urban planning in Africa. The paper aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goals 7 and 11.