Accelerating renewable energy transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from Latin America

Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) has significant renewable energy (RE) potential, yet its countries face ongoing energy challenges. Access to electricity is low and unreliable, while dependence on traditional biomass and fossil fuel remains high. Conversely, Latin American countries with equally substantial RE potential, have experienced considerable growth in their RE capacity. Although the Latin American experiences offer useful reference points for SSA, there is limited comparative research explaining how political, institutional and socio-technical conditions produce different RE transition outcomes across these contexts. This paper bridges this gap through a qualitative comparative case study approach using thematic analysis, informed by the Multi-Level Perspective on socio-technical transitions. The analysis draws on policy reports, government and utility reports, international organisation publications and peer-reviewed articles. It examines how political coordination and governance, institutional and regulatory capacity, stakeholder engagement, resource mobilisation and diversification, and power relations shape RE transitions across Chile, Uruguay, Zambia and Namibia. Findings show that through different institutional pathways, Chile and Uruguay's RE transitions are linked to sustained political commitment, institutional capacity, stakeholder participation and effective resource mobilisation. Zambia and Namibia face different constraints. The former remains vulnerable to hydropower dependence and climate variability, while the latter faces limited domestic power generation and electricity-import reliance. Accordingly, Zambia's pathway includes diversifying its energy systems and climate resilient planning, whereas Namibia requires expanded domestic RE generation and strengthened grid and regulatory capacity. Ultimately, findings illustrate that RE transition mechanisms are shaped by national institutional and energy-system conditions with credible institutions and inclusive participation offering important enabling conditions.