Bright cities and intelligences: Can access to ICTs sustainably reduce energy poverty in Africa?

Abstract

This article rigorously demonstrates that access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) sustainably reduces energy poverty in Africa, as measured by clean cooking energy. We use the ordinary least squares (OLS) and Driscoll-Kraay methods on a sample of 49 African countries observed between 1995 and 2022. For robustness test, we use the Two-stage IV and Kinky least squares (KLS) methods. The results statistically affirm that access to the internet, fixed broadband and a mobile network improves access to clean energy in urban and rural areas. On a political level, African governments must speed up the development of infrastructure to promote the development of the digital economy in order to effectively reduce energy poverty.