How to Achieve a Decentralised, Participatory, and People-centred Energy Transition towards 100% Renewables on the African Continent?

Electricity access and demand are key issues on the African continent. This poses a real threat to Africa's development and the achievement of the SDG7 goal of ensuring “access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all” until 2030. Solutions lie in the transition to renewable energy. Africa has a considerable and largely untapped potential of renewable energies. Many African countries have realized the urgency and set in place large, government-led projects to achieve a transition to renewable energy. A successful renewable energy transition, however, can only take place with the support of all those involved in the energy sector, starting with the consumer. Hence acknowledging the importance of participatory and decentralized approaches to complement large-scale installations is important. This paper first introduces key challenges of renewable energy in Africa, then suggests Morocco as potential laboratory to test decentralized, participatory, and people-centered approaches to renewable energy, and last but not least develops key recommendations for Africa, drawing on experiences with such approaches in Morocco.