La transition énergétique et la réduction des inégalités de genre dans les zones rurales d’Afrique subsaharienne

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa, like other regions of the  world,  faces  a  long  list of  critical challenges in the 21st century, including the energy transition and the fight against gender inequality. Could it be that these two issues are particularly intertwined in this region? This essay will attempt to demonstrate that, at a time when a large part of the rural population of sub-Saharan Africa depends on biomass to meet its energy needs, and when this dependence affects and makes women more vulnerable because of the gendered distribution of roles, the reduction of gender inequalities and the energy transition must go hand in hand. By comparing expected theoretical effects with the results of empirical studies, we will be able to observe that greater participation of women in energy policies makes it possible, under certain conditions, to reduce  gender inequalities and accelerate the development of renewable energy in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. 
Taking these conditions into consideration is crucial to prevent the energy transition from happening without women or even from worsening gender inequalities, as in the case of the village of Mpanta in Zambia.