Clean Energy Transition in West Africa: Does Social Capital Have a Role to Play?
Arouna Kouandou
What the paper says
Cooking remains a central economic and social activity in sub-Saharan Africa, where access to improved fuels carries important welfare implications. This paper investigates the determinants of household preferences for clean cooking technologies, with particular attention to the role of social capital. While much of the literature emphasizes household income as the primary driver of clean energy adoption, this study examines how household-level social connections shape technology uptake. Using microdata from seven countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union and applying two complementary empirical strategies, we find that households with stronger social capital are significantly more likely to adopt liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking. Our analysis further identifies financial inclusion as the principal mechanism through which social capital facilitates this transition. These findings highlight the importance of social structures, beyond income, in advancing clean energy adoption and inform policy approaches that integrate community networks into energy development strategies.
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
| M · momentum | 0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.