Reconciling economic development, energy access, and decarbonization in Africa’s renewable energy transition: a bibliometric review

Abstract

Abstract

Africa’s position in the global energy debate is marked by a persistent imbalance. The continent contributes only a small share of global CO 2 emissions, but it remains highly exposed to climate change and still faces deep energy-access deficits. For this reason, the renewable energy transition in Africa cannot be read only as a decarbonization agenda. It also raises questions of development, affordability and reliability. This article reviews how these issues have been treated in the scientific literature through a bibliometric analysis of 107 Scopus-indexed documents published between 2010 and 2025. Using VOSviewer and Bibliometrix, the paper examines publication trends, influential works, scientific actors, collaboration patterns and keyword structures. The results point to four main clusters: Technological Decarbonization and Energy Systems; Green Finance and Economic Development; Energy Access, Poverty and Security; and Emissions, Efficiency and Socioeconomic Co-benefits. These clusters do not form separate debates. Rather, they show that the literature increasingly frames Africa’s renewable energy transition as a trilemma in which economic development, energy access and decarbonization must be considered together. The review also identifies remaining gaps, particularly in the measurement of energy access and renewable energy, the treatment of financing and governance constraints, the use of stronger causal methods, and the integration of energy justice, gender and digital inclusion into transition research.