Factors determining household use of clean and renewable energy sources for lighting in Sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of the current research is to examine the factors that influence household use of determinants of renewable and clean energy sources used for lighting purposes in Africa using the data from the Living Standard Measurement Study (LSMS) from three African countries: Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Malawi. For this purpose, the paper uses multinomial logit and ordered probit econometrics models. The descriptive analysis reveals that rural households are dependent largely on kerosene and batteries for lighting their houses, while electricity and batteries form a major source of energy for lighting urban households. A small fraction of households uses solid fuels and solar as their source of energy for lighting. Econometric results show that female-headed households are likely to adopt clean and renewable sources of energy compared to male-headed households. Wealthier and more educated households are found to use electricity and solar energy for lighting, while poorer households tend to use kerosene, batteries, and solid fuels. Empirical results indicated that the Ethiopian households, followed by Malawian households, are more likely to use clean sources of energy compared to Tanzanian households.