Access to energy and women's human capital in sub-Saharan Africa.

This study examines the link between access to energy and women's human capital by focusing on women's life expectancy and school enrollment. To evaluate this relationship, we take a supranational perspective by using data from a panel of 34 sub-Saharan African countries over a 21-year period from 2000 to 2020. To do so, the ordinary least squares estimation technique applied to a fixed effects specification was adopted. It is found that for the whole sample, access to electricity has a significant positive impact on both life expectancy and school enrollment rates of women. Nevertheless, access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking significantly only impacts women's life expectancy but has no significant effect on women's school enrollment rate. Ultimately, we conclude that access to energy improves women's human capital, with a higher impact on life expectancy than on education. From a policy standpoint, action on both women's life expectancy and school enrollment should prioritize access to electricity. In order to increase women's human capital, governments must give the energy sector priority investment by setting up a grid system or promote the use of renewable energies such as micro-hydro and solar systems.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(© 2024 The Authors.)