Promoting remittances for electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa: the role of governance

Purpose This study aims to examine the moderating role of governance in the relationship between migrant remittances and electricity access. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts the system-generalised method of moments (System-GMM) to examine how governance affects the connection between electricity access and migrant remittances in 40 sub-Saharan Africa between 1990 and 2022. Findings First, the analysis shows that migrant remittances have a positive impact on access to electricity based on the non-interactive regressions. Second, with interactive regressions, governance and political stability show thresholds for complementary policies with migrant remittances on access to electricity. However, regulatory quality has a negative synergy with remittances on access to electricity. In terms of the decomposition analysis, (1) minimum and maximum thresholds for access to electricity range from 0 to 1.608 and (2) the minimum and maximum range for governance is from 0.246 to 0.739. Originality/value Amid growing calls for inclusive energy transitions, this study sheds light on how migrant remittances when guided by sound governance can serve as catalytic tools for advancing sustainable electrification across Sub-Saharan Africa. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2025-0341.