Space and energy transitions in sub-Saharan Africa: understated historical connections

Sub-Saharan Africa is seeing an influx of international interest and investment in energy projects designed to address the energy poverty and climate agendas. Often missing from these energy initiatives is an acknowledgement that bringing about energy transitions will require more than just the creation of efficient energy markets and technological leapfrogging. This article explores how we may begin to examine the spatial dimensions of contemporary energy systems in connection to the organization of social life in subSaharan Africa. Drawing on the seminal article by Bridge et al. (2013) on the spatial dimensions of energy transitions, on energy geographies literature and on various strands of social science research about Africa, the article examines the usefulness of a spatial perspective to researching how energy systems in sub-Saharan Africa came to be the way they are today. This historical understanding of energy systems is necessary if we are to make sense of future energy transitions, yet the connections between past, present and future remain understate in current policy interventions