Dr Simon Bawakyillenuo & Innocent S.K. Agbelie Addressing Energy Governance: Questions of Scale and Scope This webinar brings together researchers working on energy governance issues from a range of projects funded under two different DFID initiatives. These initiatives are the EPSRC/DFID/DECC funded Understading Sustainable Energy Solutions (USES) programme whose 13 projects are networked under the USES Network (http://www.lcedn.com/uses) and the DFID-funded Gender and Energy research programme which is managed by Energia (http://www.energia.org/research). Issues that will be covered in the webinar include: the roles of local government and political decentralization in energy governance; the political economy of energy sector dynamics and decision-making processes; Energy sector reform and fossil-fuel subsidization and the role of cities and municipalities in sustainable energy transitions.

1. Dr Simon Bawakyillenuo
Innocent S.K. Agbelie
Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER),
University of Ghana
Addressing Energy Governance: Questions of Scale and Scope
Webinar 18th
July, 2016; GotoWebinar

2. Prevailing urbanization Trends in Africa and implications
2
“70 per cent of all African urban population
growth will be in smaller cities and those
with populations of less than half a million.
This is where the real urban transition of
Africa is taking place.” (UN-HABITAT 2010)
…as long as cities and local
authorities are not put in a
position to take initiatives
and be at the forefront of
actions to make African
cities more inclusive,
competitive, sustainable,
safer and better managed,
there is little chance that
Africa will overcome the
challenges posed by rapid
urbanization.
(Cities Alliance, 2013:10)
Population: Urban settlements over 50,000 (Year 2000)

3. Mandates of local authorities and existing capacity
vis-à-vis energy governance
• African cities are faced with rapid urban
population growth, increasing energy
demand pressures in the face of lagging
energy infrastructure.
• Most local governments’ mandates are
relevant to a more sustainable energy
development, but lack explicitness in the
midst of technical capacity challenges to
implement sustainable energy initiatives.
• Challenges with energy governance at the
local level in Ghana
– Lack of full operationalisation of the
decentralisation system in Ghana
– Municipal authorities’ limited mandates on
energy infrastructure development and supply
– Frequent movement of personnel by central
authority
– Traditional land ownership and distribution
patterns
• Disruption of municipal layouts and planning
– Paucity of energy data at the local level
Structure of the District
Assembly
DISTRICT
ASSEMBLY
Public Relations &
Complaints
Committee
Executive
Committee
Social
Services
Sub-Comm
Works
Sub-Comm
Financial &
Admin.
Sub-Comm
Justice &
Security
Sub-Comm
Dev’t
Planning
Sub-Comm

4. Mandates and level of local gov’t control in Ghana
Energy-related
mandate
Activities Level of Local
government control
Housing and town
planning
Building control Medium (by-laws)
Government housing delivery Non-existence
Transport and
spatial planning
Town planning High
Public transport services Low (National)
Private vehicle (licensing, monitoring) Medium (Shared)
Bus and taxi ranks High
Urban roads, cycle and pedestrian walkway Low (National)
Public facilities
Street and traffic lighting Medium (Shared)
Municipal and other public buildings High
Utilities/services Electricity production and distribution Non-existence
Decentralised RE generation Low (National)
Petroleum product supply Non-existence
Water supply services Medium (Shared)
Refuse collection High
Environment and
public sanitation
Environmental protection Medium (Shared)
Economic
development
Local economic development / trade & industry High

5. Not sustainable

6. More sustainable

7. SAMSET Project’s Entry Point
 Local government
is an essential
player in the
energy transition
process and,
needs capacity
enhancement to
play its roles
effectively.
 Local government
is an essential
player in the
energy transition
process and,
needs capacity
enhancement to
play its roles
effectively.

8. SAMSET…
SAMSET Objectives:
•Promoting the implementation of the Municipality’s
sustainable energy and climate resilience work
•Learning how best to support sustainable urban energy
transitions in fast-urbanising Sub-Saharan Africa, and
disseminating information on this
SAMSET Activities:
–Provision of training and capacity building
–Provision of support, including planning, strategy and specific technical
support
–Sharing lessons between municipalities
–Profile the achievements of the Municipality nationally, Africa-wide, and
internationally
–Developing an improved Knowledge Exchange Framework

9. SAMSET Project implementation Approach
• Data collection exercise in Uganda (Kasese
and Jinja) and South Africa (Cape Town
and Polokwane)
– SoE, Modelling and Futures reports produced
– Sustainable Strategy building commenced
Urban Areas: Sustainable Energy Transition Support
State of
Energy
LEAP Modelling
Sustain.
Energy
Strategy
Develop strategy
Energy futures
reports
Knowledge Exchange Framework
Capacity Building
Network meetings
workshop
Masters course
All SAMSET
countries
involved

10. Key Emerging Issues from SAMSET-Ghana
implementation
• Capacity Development in Munics:Capacity Development in Munics:
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Course
• Network meetings held in SAMSET countries
• Conference attendance and networking
• In-country activities
• Engagements in data collection processes
• Mini workshops
• Energy Development Initiatives:Energy Development Initiatives:
• Energy Data at local level: SoE reports for
ASEM and GEM
• Energy strategies in MTDPs of munics
• Writing of proposals to attract energy dev’t
grants
• Implementation of ‘low-hanging’ projects eg
sensitization underway in munics
• Knowledge Exchange:Knowledge Exchange:
• Data collection processes and
collaboration with munic officials
• Stakeholder engagements
• Municipality engagements
• Data validation workshops
• Learning from other SAMSET partners
from other countries

11. Thank You
Contact details:
bawasius@isser.edu.gh
sefinno@gmail.com