Enhancing the role of local government in promoting sustainable energy transitions in Ghana. A case study of Wa Municipality

Abstract

African local governments have an important role to play in Sustainable Energy Transitions (SET), yet their involvement in sustainable energy planning is severely inadequate. The main aim of this study was to examine how the role of local governments can be enhanced in promoting SET in Ghana. Using a mixed-methods design, the research was conducted in the Wa municipality of Ghana. Key-informant interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and document reviews were the main methods of inquiry. A total of thirteen institutions, two local communities and seven policy documents were purposively sampled. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti and NetDraw Software. Results show that local government agencies, NGOs, central government agencies (ministries/departments), and private sector organisations were the main categories of actors in the municipality. Central government agencies and NGOs undertake most of the sustainable energy initiatives with local government agencies playing a facilitative rather than a direct role. Despite being the most popular in the actor-network, local government agencies’ involvement in sustainable energy planning was low. The inadequacy of local government involvement in sustainable energy planning was highlighted in policy frameworks, yet the policy documents fail to explicitly outline strategies for integrating sustainable energies into local government plans. Consequently, little attention is given to energy issues in the local government plans. Energy-related projects constituted only 1.3 percent of all the projects found in the plans, and they were all focused on expanding electricity access through grid extension. The results also showed that all local government units are faced with significant logistical deficiencies. The study recommends the integration of sustainable energy planning into the district medium-term development planning process and proposes an integrated framework to this effect