Multidimensional Energy Poverty in West Africa: Implication for Women’s Subjective Well-being and Cognitive Health

Abstract

In most African societies with domestic activities having a feminine face, failure of households to access and utilize modern energy services could derail the socioeconomic efforts of contemporary women and affect their general well-being. Despite this, empirical studies that explore the avenues through which multidimensional energy poverty impacts women’s well-being remain understudied, especially in sub-Saharan African countries where domestic activities are traditionally regarded as women’s role. This study, therefore, used data from the recent Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 6) for three West African countries to assess the impact of multidimensional energy poverty on women’s subjective well-being and cognitive health. Results from structural equation modeling (SEM) and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models as well as other robustness checks revealed significant adverse effects of multidimensional energy poverty on women’s subjective well-being and cognitive health. Further, we find that multidimensional energy poverty influences women’s cognitive health through adverse impacts on women’s subjective well-being. The revelations made in this study enforce the need to accelerate access to modern energy services to promote the efficiency of household domestic activities and, most importantly, improve the quality of life and the general well-being of women.