Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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Factors characterising energy security in West Africa: An integrative review

of the literature
G. Ofosu-Peasah a, *, E. Ofosu Antwi b, W. Blyth c
a
Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana
b
Regional Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana
c
Oxford Energy Associates, United Kingdom

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The purpose of the study is to characterise energy security in West Africa in a holistic manner rather than a
Energy security specific element of energy security. Additionally, this study samples studies from West Africa for concluding
West Africa rather than studies that predominate the Global North. Guided by the literature from the Global North and West
Global north
Africa, an integrative review of literature and a content analysis of 52 sampled studies based on a literature
Integrative review
Energy
search strategy was undertaken. The study identifies that energy security in West Africa is characterised by one
Factors region-specific factor (i.e., investment), five cross-sectors factors (i.e., governance, sustainability, reliability,
Regional affordability and regional energy pools), three sector-specific factors for the electricity sub-sector (i.e., energy
Electricity demand-side management) and oil and gas sub-sector (i.e., availability and security). The three sector-specific
Oil and gas factors for the electricity and oil and gas are also non-regional factors. The study concludes that energy secu­
rity in the Global North and West Africa is characterised by similar cross-sector factors i.e., Governance, sus­
tainability, reliability, affordability, regional energy integration and similar sector-specific factors i.e., energy
demand-side management, availability and security. The difference lies largely in the region-specific factors
and thinly in the nature of the manifestations of similar factors in both regions which may be influenced by sub-
regional needs, risks and ambitions. The study increases the Africa voice on the subject. It also identifies that
factors such as sustainability, security, energy sector investment has been understudied and as such future studies
should focus on these factors.

studies focused on any West African country. The few empirical studies
conducted on energy security in West Africa attempted to either address
1. Introduction
the issue from the perspective of a particular energy technology type, a
certain aspect of the oil and gas value chain, or a specific energy sector
Energy security is a major issue hampering industrialisation and
[5–8]. Some empirical studies such as Acquah and Sarpong [9] perform
development in West African countries especially among low-income
a comparative analysis of Ghana to 34 countries including 17 non-West
groups and growing demographies. Despite the region’s vast energy
African, ASEAN and Global North countries based on the dimensions of
resources, its resource wealth has not translated to energy security yet
energy security in the Global North proposed by Sovacool and
[1]. Countries in the Global North that are usually described by their
Mukherjee [10].
advanced level of wealth, industrialisation, development and democracy
The gap found is that, conclusions drawn on energy security are
are good examples of how strong energy security has contributed to their
based on studies which predominate the Global North. Secondly, the
development [2].
characterisation of energy security in West Africa has not been done in a
Reviewing the literature indicates a paucity of studies on factors
holistic manner but rather, focuses on a specific element of energy se­
characterising energy security in West Africa and the nature of these
curity. This gap is filled by characterising energy security in West Africa
factors. This is evidenced in a study by Azzuni and Breyer [3] who
in a general manner rather than a specific element of energy security.
identified 66 characterisations of energy security from 104 literature
Additionally, this study provides an adequate sample from West Africa
sources whiles Ang et al. [4] identified 83 characterisations of energy
for drawing conclusions rather than those by Ang and Breyer [3,4]
security from 104 reviews of the empirical literature. None of these

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: gideon.ofosu-peasah.stu@uenr.edu.gh (G. Ofosu-Peasah).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111259
Received 24 September 2020; Received in revised form 7 May 2021; Accepted 21 May 2021
Available online 6 June 2021
1364-0321/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259

identify factors influencing the adoption of electric vehicles. It is also

Abbreviations used to understand the concept of sustainable and smart product inno­
vation ecosystem and identify gaps for further study [14]. In a more
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Asia recent study by Musango [15], this approach is used to contribute to
CSOs Civil Society Organisations knowledge on gender, energy and poor urban environments and aids in
DSM Demand Side Management identifying concerns and gaps on the topic. In an integrative review, first
ECOWAS Economic Community of West Africa States a historic integrative review is done to synthesise representative schol­
ERERA ECOWAS Regional Electricity and Regulatory Authority arly works into a new research schema that provides an integrative view
EREP ECOWAS Renewable Energy Policy of the topic. A major strength of the integrative literature review tech­
IEA International Energy Agency nique is its ability to produce meta-level findings and its ability to build a
IOCs International Oil Companies theoretical or conceptual framework.
LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas The following steps are followed in an integrative review:
MUJAO Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation i) The design: Authors identify the need for the review and its likely
NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations contribution to knowledge. After the review, relevance and contri­
REA Rural Electrification Agency butions are established. Next, the purpose and research questions are
SAIDI System Average Interruption Duration Index proposed bearing in mind the target of the study. (In this case, policy
SAIFI System Average Interruption Frequency Index makers and researchers). As part of the design, the literature search
WAPP West Africa Power Pool strategy i.e. databases, search strings, inclusion, exclusion criteria
WAGP West Africa Gas Pipeline etc. is established.
WAGPCo West Africa Gas Pipeline Company Limited ii) Implementation: The design in i) is implemented. Next to answer the
research questions, information such as authors, topic, study area,
methodology, definitions, findings and conclusions on energy secu­
rity is extracted from the studies to form the data for analysis (see
which predominate the Global North. What this study seeks to do is to first-order concepts in Tables 1 and 3). One author is assigned to this
observe the case of energy security using an integrative review of the process to ensure consistency and reliability in the process. Lastly,
literature and a content analysis guided by the literature from the Global the PRISMA protocol is followed in structuring and extracting data
North and West Africa. An integrative literature review appraises, cri­ from sampled studies. See Alcayaga et al. [13–17].
tiques, and integrates representative scholarly works on a topic cohe­
sively to produce new constructs and viewpoints [11,12]. The approach 2.3. Literature search and sample selection strategy
is best suited for existing studies that are dispersed across incongruent
disciplines and have not been integrated. A literature search procedure, keyword identification, literature
Based on this justification, the study objectives are to identify factors appraisal and sample identification strategy is established. Next, an
that characterise energy security in West Africa, understand the nature analysis of the literature is conducted [14,15]. As indicated in the ap­
of these factors and to find out whether there is an adequate or inade­ pendix: Table A1 and Fig. A1, the literature search consists of two
quate focus in the literature on some key factors that are essential in the phases. In phase I, the relevant literature reviewed consists of 30 articles
West Africa region or whether some factors need attention based on written in English. Studies were obtained by searching energy security
needs, priorities, threats or regional ambitions. This is premised on the definitions mainly from Google, Google Scholar and relevant reading
dearth of review studies on energy security focusing on West Africa and alerts by Mendeley. This is coupled with a simple Google search using
the low African voice on the subject. Answers to this will be beneficial to keywords such as “Energy security definition”; “Energy security Ghana”,
advancing the practise and design of bespoke energy policies for West “Energy security Nigeria”, “Energy security Burkina Faso”, “Energy se­
African governments and furthering research on key factors which has curity and Sub-Saharan Africa. The search is constrained from 2010 to
been understudied. The rest of the paper is organised into the following 2020 except for the subject authority. Although more than 30 articles
sessions: research methodology, results, discussion and conclusion. were identified, they were screened for their relevance by probing the
abstract and further the content to ensure that they relate to the defi­
2. Research methodology nition, description, or characterisation of energy security [12]. The
search took place from July 20, 2020 to August 25, 2020.
2.1. Research questions For phase II, attention is given to African-based Journals like the
African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development,
It is worth noting that because of the exclusion of West Africa in African Security Review, African Journals Online and African Devel­
global reviews such as Ang and Breyer [3,4], It is an open question as to opment Review. To deepen research reliability and increase the number
whether or not the characterisations of energy security as predominated of empirical articles, authors expand the scope of journals to give focus
by the Global North are suitable in the West Africa region. Hence the to non-African journals that develop special periodicals on energy in
following research questions: developing countries like the Energy for Sustainable Development
Journal, International Journal of Energy Sector Management, Energy
i. What factors characterise energy security in the Global North? Research and Social Science Journal. The search for literature for the
ii. What factors characterise energy security in West Africa? second phase took place from 18th - December 24, 2020 from nine da­
iii. What are the typologies of these factors? tabases and journals. Search strings such as “Energy AND Africa”, En­
iv. What gap and future directions exist for scholars and practi­ ergy security AND Africa”, “Energy security AND West Africa”, “Energy
tioners in the field of energy security in West Africa ? security þ West Africa” are entered into the search bars of these journals
and constrained for English literature. Over 181.1 million search results
2.2. Research design are obtained. Results for “Energy security AND Africa” showed studies
conducted in East, North, Central and Southern African sub-regions
An integrative review of literature is used to synthesise the literature including South Africa, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo,
and address the various research questions logically. This approach was Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda and Morocco and in some cases used the
used to synthesise and integrate findings in a study by Kumar [13] to term, sub-Saharan Africa. The search is not limited to any field of

2
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al.
Fig. 1. Research methodology flow.
research for both phases of the search strategy. In both phases of liter­
ature search, the authors further reviewed the title, keywords and ab­
stract to identify relevant literature to include in the study. Regarding
the time frame, the search for phase II is not constrained to any time
frame.
In some cases, titles, keywords, and abstracts did not contain the
search term strings but other synonymous terms such as energy access,
cooking fuel, energy justice, energy democracy, energy affordability,
decentralised renewable energy, energy poverty, energy sector re­
sponses, etc. Such studies were considered for further review. This
approach was used in locating more literature on the topic in West Af­
rica. For titles, keywords and abstracts which did not contain the word
“West Africa”, names of individual countries i.e. Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal
amongst other West African countries were considered. The authors
further reviewed the paper content for relevance.
Finally, after checking for duplicates, a total of 63 key search results
comprising 30 from phase I and 33 from phase II were obtained. Some
papers from the African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and
Development, Energy for Sustainable Development did not make the
final list of empirical papers to be reviewed after drilling down to paper
content. Thus, a final sample of 52 studies was used for this study for
subsequent analysis of the definitions, findings, and conclusions from
energy security studies.
2.4. Data analysis
A manual content analysis of the literature is used as the main
analytical tool for evaluating information from the literature gathered
after following the step outlined in section 2.2 (ii). First, patterns within
the literature are identified using the themes which emerge from the
categories. This is done by meticulously re-reading the literature to
identify the relevant concepts characterising energy security in West
Africa and the Global North. Each word, sentence, paragraph from the
literature is re-read to identify concepts. During the scan, patterns are
identified. The pattern is studied, and ideas are matched to determine
concepts that can be put in the same categories or descriptors. This is
called first-order concepts. (See Column 1 of Tables 1 and 3). The first-
order concept is literature-centric. The categories are compared with
each other to find how related or different they are from each other and
how the ideas in both regions relate. Next, second-order themes are
established in an author-centric manner based on the author’s knowl­
edge of the subject. (See Column 2 of Tables 1 and 3). Authors assess the
emerging themes to see if they can help describe existing factors or
discover new factors in the case of energy security in West and Global
North. Third, the second-order themes are distilled into concise themes
called third-order themes/factors. (See Column 3 of Tables 1 and 3). We
now produce a data structure of how authors advanced from the liter­
ature data to factors (See Tables 1 and 3). A similar approach is used by
Refs. [18,19].
2.4.1. Word cloud
To infuse qualitative rigour, validity and preserve the sanctity of
3
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259
identifying new concepts and ideas, a word cloud is deployed using
Tagcrowd1 [20]. This educational tool uses an automated content
analysis to produce pictorial output.
To produce word clouds, we follow the approach by Ref. [21]. First,
we categorise data as per the literature. To avoid visualising transition
and vague words, authors manually delete such words before uploading
to TagCrowd. Next, we ensure that we homogenise words by ensuring
that each word has one spelling. We also group words with the same
meanings and replace with a single word. This is done to deal with the
fundamental challenge associated with computing qualitative data
[22–24]. Third, cleaned data is uploaded into the software. TagCrowd
discounts simple words such as is, the, if, etc and treats hyphens and
apostrophes as transition words. A graphical output showing the fre­
quency of words is produced with TagCrowd. Next, a frequency table of
key energy security descriptors is generated with the help of a Tag­
Crowd. We group similar words which emerge and sum up those words
to identify the weights. The following options are selected from the tag
crowd tool; show frequencies, show minimum frequency of two, group
similar words, exclude dealing, managing, along, areas due, effective, end,
energy, instituting, issues, projects, promote, reduces, resources, sector, ser­
vices, source, user, plans, systems, plants, consumer, communities. Finally,
the interpretation is done in the context of the research question to
identify what the keywords mean.
After triangulating third-order factors with keywords/descriptors
from TagCrowd, factors that emerge are analysed following Castleberry
and Nolen [25] five-point criteria for qualitative interpretations. First,
interpretation should be complete and have a clear structure for readers
to see the beginning, middle and end. Secondly, interpretation should be
unbiased and be the same if the same data is analysed by different au­
thors. Thirdly, interpretation should be accurate and representative of
raw data. Fourthly, interpretation should be supported by the current
literature. Fifthly, data collection methods and interpretations should be
reliable and supported by other researchers.
3. Results
The tables and figures below show the results of the analysis. Ta­
bles 1 and 3 show results from three levels of analysis. The first columns
are briefs from the definitions, findings and (or) conclusions of what
energy security is. Column 2 indicates descriptive codes or taxonomies
used to represent the concepts of energy security in column 1. The third
column from both tables seeks similarities and distinctions from the
themes in column 2 to present factors that influence energy security
from both regions.
Figs. 2 and 3 are the graphical output of data categories based on
literature from the Global North and West Africa. The figures are created
with the “TagCrowd” software. The frequencies of keywords/descriptors
and their meanings as used in the literature is depicted in Tables 2 and 4.
1
https://tagcrowd.com/.
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al.
Table 1
Data structure of the literature. Concepts to themes to aggregated factors - global
north.
1st Order Concepts- Literature
Centric
• Safety and insecurities along
the energy supply chain
• Protecting oil transport routes
such as the strait of hormuz
• Proactive security force to
protect energy installations
from insurgent attacks
• Protection of critical energy
infrastructure during armed
conflict
• Skills and knowledge transfer
by NATO to protect energy
installations.
• Public education on energy
issues
• Availability of quality energy
sector information
• Public use of energy
information
• Stakeholder consultations on
energy issues key to decision
making
• Energy options must be
acceptable
• Sustained provision of modern
energy services
• Dealing with adverse
environmental impacts from
oil extraction and use
• Achieving energy security with
minimal climate impacts
• Energy security should be
grounded in the triple bottom
line theory.
• Utilising spatially abundant
renewable energy resources
• Stable and reliable supply
crude oil and natural gas
• Continuous supply of energy
with demand.
• Energy system decentralisation
security
• Dealing with the low
vulnerability of vital energy
systems
• Managing energy security risk
i.e., human, endogenous
technical and natural risks
• Cost of securing the system
• Energy system security from
cyber attacks
• Resilience in energy supply
systems and infrastructures
• Appropriate system design
• Availability of hydrocarbon
energy resources
• Availability of energy
infrastructure to transform
resources
• Availability of energy to end-
user
• Stable or steady prices for
crude oil and natural gas
• Reasonable energy prices in an
optimum manner along with
national objectives
• Managing trade-offs between
affordability and factors as
climate impacts.
• Energy system efficiency
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259
Table 1 (continued )
1st Order Concepts- Literature 2nd Order Themes- 3rd Order/
Centric Author Centric Aggregated
2nd Order Themes- 3rd Order/ Factors
Author Centric Aggregated • Energy use efficiency by
Factors consumers
Oil supply route security Security • Energy management
• Diversity of various energy Diversification of energy Diversity
forms like electricity and forms and sources
hydrocarbons
Protecting energy • Diversity of countries for
infrastructure from energy imports sources
insurgents • Diversity of energy
technologies
• Diversity of end-users; resi­
dential, industrial etc
• Energy research and Energy research and Research and
development to reduce energy development development
intensity
Public education Governance • Energy research and
development for new
extraction methods
• Automation in energy system
operation
• An emergency central energy Regional energy pool/ Energy
supply pool to cushion the integration Integration
society of supply
• A regional energy pool
Acceptable and modern Sustainability requiring domestic and
energy forms regional investments
• Effectively coordinated energy
interdependence, geopolitics,
Environmental and collaboration
sustainability • Promote electricity access to Energy access Energy access
“hard to reach areas”
• Promoting energy equity
• Location of energy source Energy Accessibility Accessibility
• Energy system impacts on the Expertise of human Human capital
health of human resources resources
• Knowledge level of energy
sector staff
Reliable energy supply Reliability
Table 2
Frequency table of key energy security descriptors from tagcrowd based on
literature from the global north.
Keywords/Descriptors Frequency Meaning as used in the
Energy system and Resilience
literature
infrastructure resilience
Crude (2) +gas (2) +natural (3) +oil 13 Hydrocarbons + electricity
(4)+hydrocarbon (2) + electricity
(3)
Research (2) +development (2) 4 Research and development
Pool (2) +regional (2) + Political (2) 4 Energy pools/Energy
integration
System (9) 9 Energy system
Security (7) 7 Security
Supply (6) 6 Reliable supply
Availability (4) 4 Availability
Availability of Availability Diversity (4) 4 Diversity
hydrocarbon resources, Impacts (4)+extraction (2) 4 Environmental impacts from
infrastructure, and oil and gas extraction
consumer Protect (4) 4 Protection of installations
Infrastructure (3) +installations (2) 3 Available, resilient,
protected infrastructure
Climate (2) 2 Environmental impacts
Affordable and stable Affordability Efficiency (2) 2 Efficiency
prices Human (2) +knowledge (2) 2 Human capital
Prices (2) 2 Affordability
Public (2) +information (2) 2 Public knowledge
Renewable (2) 2 Renewable energy
Risk (2) 2 Minimal risks
Stable (2) 2 Stable prices + stable supply
Energy demand-side Energy demand
management side management
4
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al.
Table 3
Data structure of the literature from concepts to themes to aggregated factors-
West Africa.
1st Order Concepts-Literature Centric
• Grid reliability and the continual
supply of feedstock to thermal
generating power plants
• Reliable supply of natural gas for
electricity generation
• Low transmission and distribution
power sector losses in the country’s
power sector
• Solar services centers and
multifunctional platforms to ensure
modern and reliable energy supply
for economic activities
• Deploying hybrid energy systems.
• Dealing with operations of armed
attacks on hydrocarbon
installations in Gulf of Guinea
• Investing in decentralised energy
systems increases electricity access,
enhances reliability, and reduces
energy cost
• Adequate forecasting, planning
and timely investment in energy
system infrastructure
• Scaling up and replicating
successful energy projects in rural
communities.
• Investing in multifunctional
platforms and solar services centers
is key to reducing energy poverty
in rural communities
• Investing in small-scale renewables
projects
• Investing in ocean energy
generating technologies
• Leveraging renewable resource
potential
• Ocean-based technology is
sustainable and has minimal
adverse impacts
• Adding solar energy to the already
planned hydro generation mix in
WAPP
• Developing small hydro plants and
decentralising renewable energy
projects
• Use of biofuel in solving climate-
related energy use impacts.
• An effective legal regime to
integrate renewable energy into
the national grid.
• A robust sub-regional governance
framework for addressing technical
and legal challenges around WAPP
• Effective regulatory and oversight
framework
• Instituting appropriate legal and
regulatory framework
• Demarcating institutional roles
• Standardized Power Purchase
Agreements
• Energy sector legal and regulatory
frameworks and political stability
• Compliance with sector rules, not
following corrupt practices and
committing to transparency
• Avoiding resource curse
• Aligning local energy policy
frameworks and medium-term
plans to deepening sub-regional
energy integration
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259
Table 3 (continued )
1st Order Concepts-Literature Centric 2nd Order Themes- 3rd Order/
Author Centric Aggregated
2nd Order Themes- 3rd Order/ Factors
Author Centric Aggregated • Sub-regional energy integration
Factors such as the WAPP
Reliable energy Reliability • Tapping into the unexploited and Exploring local Local energy
supply underexploited energy resources energy resource generation
• Productive use of flared natural gas options
• The use of traditional fuels in rural
areas
• Extraction of fossil fuels with
minimal environmental impacts
• Traditional fuels in rural areas are Affordable prices Affordability
mostly preferred due to their
affordability and ease of access
• High electricity connection fees
hinder electricity access and
promote illegal connections.
Protecting energy Security • Expensive fuel feedstock
infrastructure • Expensive self-generation due to
grid unreliability
Investment in energy Investment • Metering the un-metered elec­ Technology induced Energy-saving
systems tricity consumer energy saving technologies
• Assigning prepaid metered
• Unmetered clients are wasteful in
energy use than the metered.
• Post-paid energy consumers are
more wasteful in electricity use
than prepaid consumers.
Table 4
Frequency table of key energy security descriptors from tagcrowd based on
literature from West africa.
Keywords/Descriptors Frequency Meaning as used in the
literature
Electricity (6) + natural (2) gas (2) + 6 Hydrocarbons + electricity
Exploiting vast Renewable power (4)
renewable energy energy Investing (5) + access (3) + rural (4) 5 Investment
potential Renewable (5) + solar (3) + 5 Renewable energy
decentralised (2) + hydro (2)
Framework (4) + legal (3) + 4 Legal framework
regulatory (2)
Fuels (4) 4 Extraction of fossil fuels and
use of local fuels
Reliable (4) + multifunctional (2) + 4 Reliability
platforms (2) + centers (2) + grid
(3) + supply (3)
Generation (4) 4
Integration (3) + WAPP (3) + sub- 3 Sub-regional energy
Effective governance Governance regional (3) integration/pools
and Metered (3) + prepaid (2) + 3 Technology induced energy
regulatory oversight technology (2) + wasteful (2) saving
Impacts (2) + sustainable (2) 2 Environmental impacts
Connection (2) 2 High electricity connection
fee triggering illegal
connection
Expensive (2) + feedstock (2) + 2 Affordability
traditional (2)
3.1. Results summary
By mapping 3rd order factors from Table 1 and keywords/de­
scriptors from Table 2, the following results emerge as factors charac­
terising energy security for the literature on the Global North. See
Table 5. From Table 5, no keyword or descriptor could be mapped with
Energy access, Accessibility.
Sub-regional energy Sub-regional
pools energy Also, by mapping 3rd order factors from Table 3 and keywords/de­
integration scriptors from Table 4, the following results emerge as factors charac­
terising energy security for the literature on West Africa. (See Table 6).
From Table 6, no keyword or descriptor could be mapped with Security.
The basis for inclusion or exclusion of third-order factors which
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G. Ofosu-Peasah et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259

Fig. 2. Energy security typology.

Table 6
Third-order factors from data structure vrs keywords/descriptors for West
Africa.
3rd order factors from Keywords/descriptors from Table 4
Table 3

Reliability Reliability
Investment Investment
Renewable energy Renewable energy, environmental impacts
Governance Legal framework
Energy pool Sub-regional energy integration/pools
Local energy generation Extraction of fossil fuels and use of local fuels
Affordability Affordability, high electricity connection fee triggering
illegal connections
Energy-saving Technology induced energy savings
Fig. 3. Transmissive effects of priority factors. technologies
Security

Table 5
for further analysis.
Third-order factors from data structure vrs keywords/descriptors from Global
North.
4. Analysis of third-order factors
3rd order factors from Keywords/descriptors from Table 2
Table 1
The section builds on the factors identified in the results section,
Security Security, Protection of installations, protected
infrastructure
explains the relationships and differences amongst these factors as it
Governance Public knowledge) pertains to both regions. Additionally, the factors are trichotomised into
Sustainability Environmental impacts, Renewable energy, cross-sector factors (both electricity and oil and gas) and oil and gas and
Environmental impacts from oil and gas extraction electricity. The characterisation of these factors is supported with the
Reliability Reliable supply
literature to help expound and synthesise the literature in a logical
Resilience Resilient, minimal risks
Availability Availability manner, point out gaps and future directions for study. This approach is
Affordability Affordability used in similar studies in energy and in social sciences [11,12,14,17,25].
Energy demand-side Efficiency The discussion of similarities and differences helps condense factors
management identified from the results section. For example, Renewable energy, Local
Diversity Diversity
energy generation, Energy-saving technologies from section 3.1, Table 6 are
Research and Research and development
development condensed into Sustainability, Availability and Energy demand-side man­
Energy pool Energy pool agement because of the alignment and similarities in the characterisation
Human capital Human capital of factors.
Energy access
Accessibility
4.1. Cross-sector factors

cannot be mapped like Energy access, Accessibility and Security with
Keywords/descriptors is based on a methodological approach from the
literature which states, texts which provide answers to a research
question can be included for discussion [26–28]. Thus Energy access and
Accessibility are excluded from the literature from the Global North and
Security was kept as a factor for energy security in West Africa. The
justification for this is that first, this approach is used in similar studies
as an exclusion approach for qualitative studies leveraging text. Second,
Security is a critical issue in West Africa especially with the rise of violent
attacks and extremist groups. Thus Security is included in the rest study
4.1.1. Governance
Energy sector governance spans decision making, legislation, trans­
parency, accountability, sustainability, operational performance of
utility companies among other key factors. Decisions taken in the energy
sector affect investment decisions and tariffs. An effective legislation is
premised on the level of public education and stakeholder consultation.
For example, a decision regarding carbon tax on fuel should be
consultative and transparent. Effective implementation of the policy will
require public education and the capacity of state actors to implement,
monitor and be accountable. Some motivations for good energy sector

6
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al.
governance in the Global North are to reduce energy sector emissions as
per the Paris Accord, bridge energy market asymmetries, reduce nuclear
terrorism and attacks by insurgents and the geopolitics of energy [29]. In
West Africa, good energy sector governance is typified in conflict
management, reducing corruption, increasing demand for transparency,
accountability, good environmental governance, socio-economic
growth and development. Additionally, countries within the
sub-region are concerned with instituting appropriate legal and regu­
latory frameworks to promoting energy sector investments, cooperation,
security and peace [8,30–32]. Several studies cite the need for an
effective legal and regulatory regime to integrate renewable energy into
the national grid to promote electricity access, mitigate climate change
and promote socio-economic growth. An effective legal and regulatory
regime is expected to deal with challenges associated with funding,
private sector involvement, unstandardized power purchase agree­
ments, overlapping institutional roles, high cost of renewable energy
projects among other challenges [33,34]. Secondly, having a robust
sub-regional governance framework is key to dealing with technical and
legal challenges around grid interconnection in the WAPP project [35].
Thirdly, an effective regulatory and oversight framework will encourage
sustainable hydrocarbon exploitation, peace, regard for human rights
and interest in promoting local socio-economic development in resource
fringe communities by IOCs. In Ogoniland, CSO groups and citizens
interrupted the awards of new extraction licenses till polluted areas were
cleaned, human rights abuses stopped, and adequate compensation paid
[33]. Additionally, opacity in the award of power contracts and oil
exploration rights, the existence of intermediaries in contracting, the
creation of shell companies, influence peddling, fronting among others
are some strategies used to reduce the impact of energy sector in­
terventions. In Nigeria, the rent-seeking attitude of officials working
with State Utility companies is much to be desired. The country’s elec­
tric reform Act, 2005 has not achieved the desired impact. It is reported
that an estimated over eleven trillion naira (approximately over $31
billion) was lost from decay in Nigeria’s power sector from 1999 to
2017. Examples of these scandals are the Rural Electrification Agency
(REA) and Manitoba Hydro International scandals [36].
4.1.2. Sustainability
The acceptability of energy forms, sustainable energy production and
consumption, utilising spatially abundant renewable energy resources
are issues around sustainability in the Global North and West Africa. The
acceptability of energy forms is not a typical manifestation in West Af­
rica. This is because, rural folks and people in peri-urban areas contend
with affordability issues around energy hence resort to readily available
biomass sources. In a study conducted in rural Burkina Faso and Benin,
the use of traditional fuels (firewood, animal waste, straw, crop residue
etc.) is most preferred due to their affordability and ease of access [37]
[–] [39]. Oil and gas resources should be extracted and consumed with
minimum environmental impact. Additionally, increasing renewable
energy generation will promote ecological, social and economic gains.
4.1.3. Reliability
The uninterrupted supply of energy is considered a major energy
security factor for petroleum and electricity sub-sectors. Approaches to
deepening reliability have focused on eliminating and managing supply
risks from geopolitics, insecurity at major supply sources and routes,
underinvestment in the sector and strategic stocks shortfalls. On elec­
tricity supply, the focus is on decentralising renewable energy, mini­
mising unreliability arising from natural disasters and intermittencies in
renewable energy supply. Several studies corroborate this point. See
Refs. [40–43]. Conversely in West Africa, load shedding and
poor-quality electricity service is a regular phenomenon hence the focus
on the continual supply of feedstock for thermal power generation and
minimising transmission and distribution losses. At the sub national
level, rural folks rely on solar services centers and multifunctional
platforms to ensure a modern and reliable energy supply for their
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259
economic activities. The aforementioned points on West Africa is sup­
ported by several studies [44] [–] [46].
4.1.4. Affordability
The cost of energy feeds in energy price tariff build up hence energy
services and products should be provided at reasonable and steady
prices so it does not become a barrier to energy access and the use of
clean and modern energy forms for users. The literature on the Global
North sets the tone for this discourse on the rebound effect and climate
impacts, tradeoffs between affordability and efficiency, affordability
and climate impacts. For example, an energy system with large grid-tied
solar and wind energy may be less preferred to fossil fuels driven energy
system due to high feed-in tariffs. Germany and UK for instance have
high prices due to the inbuilt tax components to fund energy transition.
See Refs. [43,47].
The issue of affordability is critical in developing countries for that
matter West Africa. This is attributed to the low-income levels of gov­
ernments and the citizenry. For instance, peri-urban households in
Senegal, pay USD 45 as legal electricity connection fees for houses
within 30 m from the national grid. Those who reside more than 30 m
pay USD 650. The high electricity connection cost for homes far off the
grid prevents households from being connected. Those who are some­
times able to get connected to the grid are those households who belong
to a certain political or traditional class. Expensive electricity services
have trigged illegal connections which cost as low as USD 8.00 [48]. A
study by Lokonon [38] revealed that the use of firewood, animal waste,
straw, crop residue is the most dominant (68.28%) cooking fuel because
of high poverty levels. This is followed by transition fuels like kerosene,
charcoal and coal lignite.
4.1.5. Regional energy integration
The creation of energy pools aims at leveraging a region’s energy
resources to meet demand amongst member countries. Due to the varied
energy mix of energy pools, member countries benefit from relatively
lower energy prices than they would have incurred if they sought supply
on their own. A study shows that resource-poor and advanced island
countries benefit from the creation of an emergency central energy
supply pool for the supply [49]. Similarly, in West Africa, sub-regional
energy integration programs such as the WAPP, WAGP is key to pro­
moting energy security especially for landlocked countries like Burkina
Faso, Mali and Niger who do not have hydrocarbon resources and un­
derdeveloped renewable energy. Several studies indicate that Ghana,
Nigeria, Cote-d’Ivoire, Niger and other West African countries have
committed to aligning their local energy policy frameworks and
medium-term plans to deepening and strengthening sub-regional energy
integration [44,50–52].
4.2. Petroleum
4.2.1. Security
The regions of West Africa and the Global North share similar inse­
curity concerns when it comes to the safety of oil and gas supply. These
are insecurities along oil and gas transport routes and installations. The
Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, Suez Canal, pipelines in the Niger
delta among other supply routes are critical to petroleum supply. The
Strait of Hormuz is critical to oil and gas supply security because
approximately 20% (translating into about 17.4 million barrels of oil per
day) of the world petroleum comes from the Strait. The Strait is a hot
sport for major insecurities. For instance, in July 2010, Abdullah Azzam
Brigades-an insurgent group attacked a Japanese oil tanker. In response
to US and European sanctions imposed on Iran to stop its nuclear pro­
gramme, in January 2012, the country warned to block the Strait of
Hormuz. In May 2019, four oil tankers were attacked in a bunkering spot
very close to the Strait. Likewise, in November 2020 an unknown mili­
tant group attacked oil installations in Nigeria’s Niger delta region [40,
53–55]. In West Africa, the mounting increase in insurgent operations is
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al.
premised on the level and history of political unrest, piracy, pollution,
maritime boundary disagreements, oil trafficking and bunkering activ­
ities in coastal West African countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone and
the undying oil politics in Nigeria. Boko Haram is active in Nigeria and
the Lake Chad basin regions where the Movement for Oneness and Jihad
in West Africa (MUJAO) is active in Mali. To deal with these insecurities,
NATO continually shares intelligence on energy sector developments,
builds allies when necessary, shares best practices on the use of
energy-efficient equipment, transfers skills and knowledge on how to
protect energy installations [56]. In West Africa, there are periodic ca­
pacity buildings of armies to be equipped to protect growing offshore
installations. The Gulf of Guinea is important due to the quality and
quantity of hydrocarbon resources [51,57,58].
4.2.2. Availability
Availability of natural energy resources especially fossil fuels and
energy infrastructure availability plays a vital role in ensuring that en­
ergy reaches the end-user and amongst resource-poor countries.
Renewable energy resources are available everywhere unlike depletable
fossil fuels and uranium [59]. South Korea imports over 95% of energy
sources (uranium, coal, oil and gas). The country’s oil and gas imports
(59%) are mainly from the Middle East. South Korea has inadequate
hydrocarbon resources and no oil or natural gas pipeline but depends on
LNG and crude oil cargoes [60] [–] [62]. This is the case of many
resource-poor countries in West Africa like Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali
who spend a significant portion of the national budget on petroleum
imports. The unavailability of oil and gas in Burkina Faso has led to
100% oil and gas imports for electricity generation and the transport
sector. This has translated into comparatively higher petroleum and
electricity prices although subsidised. Countries with available energy
resources like Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria are exploiting their unex­
ploited and underexploited local energy resources to meeting the energy
supply deficit [63]. A study by the Africa Development Bank [64] in­
dicates that West Africa contributes 32% to proven oil reserves in Africa
and 35% to proven natural gas reserves. In terms of volumes, the
sub-region has much more in natural gas than in oil. In the future, the
sub-region will lead the stock of natural gas (79%).
Another manifestation of leveraging the regions’ unexploited and
underexploited local energy resources is to put to productive use flared
natural gas from oil and gas fields. This practice is a regular occurrence
in Nigeria and a periodic occurrence in Ghana. A study by Price Waters
House Coppers [65] states that 10% of Nigeria’s natural gas is flared.
The report cites the lack of adequate infrastructure for harnessing the
productive use of this cheap and relatively clean energy source for
electricity generation and liquefied petroleum.
4.3. Electricity
4.3.1. Energy demand-side management
Energy demand-side management deals with implementing mea­
sures to reduce electricity cost, quantity consumed in kilowatts per hour
and greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency is a subset of energy
management. The use of energy-efficient electricity generation plants,
transmission and distribution lines and energy-efficient appliances by
end-users is a novel approach to reducing electricity demand and
delaying the rate of capacity additions. This approach is used in energy-
intensive economies like Japan, New Zealand and Germany who expe­
rience increasing demand but have limited non-renewable and alter­
native energy resources. These countries usually incorporate more solar
and wind energy technologies which suffer from intermittency thus use
demand-side management to reduce the rate of energy demand growth
under supply constraints [66]. In West Africa, energy demand-side
management is an emerging area and regulations are being developed
by most countries within the sub-region although some initial successes
in Ghana has been chalked [67,68]. The African Development Bank
Electricity Regulatory Index report for 2020 indicates a low level of
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259
energy efficiency regulation development in West Africa despite the
existence of the ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy [69]. Until such a
time energy efficiency regulations and standards are mainstreamed in
West African countries, energy conservation measures such as public
busing, installing prepaid metres, metering the unmetered and public
education will be important to tracking energy consumption, reducing
waste use, energy system losses whiles simultaneously increasing elec­
tricity revenue assurance due to Utility companies [70].
4.4. Region-specific factors
This section discusses factors specific to the Global North and West
Africa based on the regional specific ambitions and threats. These factors
are resilience, diversity, human capital, research and development for
the Global North whereas Investment emerges from the literature as
unique to West Africa.
4.4.1. Resilience
Designing robust energy systems capable of withstanding shocks or
reverting to their original state after a shock or transformed into a
desirable purpose is relevant in these times of natural disasters, adverse
climate impacts, price volatilities, cyber-attacks, terrorism and inter­
mittency in renewable energy supply. Some studies identify risks such as
underinvestment in the sector, carbon emissions, strategic stock short­
falls, unreliability in transmission and distribution lines disasters,
intermittency in renewable energy generation as risks that an energy
system should be resilient to Refs. [41,42,71].
4.4.2. Diversity
Developed countries are concerned with energy diversity. The more
diverse energy forms are the better the energy security situation. A
country that relies solely on oil is likely to be less secure than a country
that relies on oil and gas. Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago use oil and gas a
primary energy. Should anything go wrong with this major energy
source, the country will be in crisis. Additionally, the diversity of energy
import sources of a country is relevant to enhancing supply security. In
case there is a supply challenge from any of those sources, they can turn
to another. A typical example is the Russian gas supply deficit to Europe
in February 2012 which led to crises in Europe during cold weather
[72]. Likewise, diversity in renewable energy technologies can enhance
the pot of electricity generation [73].
4.4.3. Human capital
The quality of public discourse on energy issues is dependent on the
level of skill and knowledge acquired by the populace to engage on
sector issues. A more informed citizenry is more likely to critique
constructively state policies and probe reports produced by key actors.
In the same way, a knowledgeable citizenry is more likely to practice
conservation and be energy efficient. It is also important to note that the
effective management and sustainability of the energy sector is depen­
dent on the quality of educational programmes needed to produce the
needed manpower This point is corroborated by Yao [74] in a study of
OECD countries. The study reveals that an informed human capital base
triggers a reduction in energy consumption by 15%, leads to a 17%
decline in the consumption of dirty fuel and increases clean energy use
by 86% rise.
4.4.4. Research and development
Countries in the Global North consider research and development as
key to enhancing low-carbon technologies, improving the efficiency of
solar photovoltaics, reducing energy intensities, improving battery
storage of fuel cells, improving carbon capture and storage, improving
nuclear energy safety, reducing the cost of hydrogen cell technology
among other issues. Research into nanotechnology aims at enhancing
efficiency, economy and lowering emissions during the manufacturing
of energy materials. Nanotechnology enhances oil well drilling and
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al.
extraction, maintains well stability and protects the oil pool. Automa­
tion and digitisation provide Engineers and Technicians with remotely
sensed data, real-time data and enhances surveillance. Studies are
ongoing into how natural gas can be extracted from methane hydrate
deposits [75].
In 2019, government research and development expenditure as
recorded by the IEA increased by 3% from 2018 to USD 30 billion in
2019. This has been the highest expenditure since 2014. Out of this
expenditure, China, North America and Europe spent 25 billion in
research and development. The expenditure by corporates in research
and development was USD 90 billion and was the largest since 2010.
Research and development spending in the automotive and petroleum
sector constituted 62% of this expenditure followed by electricity gen­
eration, thermal power and combustion (24%). Expenditure on renew­
able and nuclear energy innovations constituted 7% and 1%
respectively. The driver for expenditure in the automotive sub-sector
was the quest for innovations in electric vehicles [76].
4.4.5. Investment
The level of electricity sector investments by the state and private
sector in implementing energy projects, planning timely investments in
capacity additions and implementing preventive maintenance projects
are vital to improving access, reducing transmission and distribution
losses and avoiding unnecessary capacity additions through knee-jerk
and unplanned solutions.2 Investing in decentralised energy systems
increases electricity access, enhances reliability, and reduces energy
costs after the project payback period. In Togo, there are huge power
losses resulting from power thefts and aging infrastructure [77]. This
will require rehabilitation and sector investments. Additionally, studies
show that investing in decentralised energy systems reduces cost in the
medium to long term than an 80% improvement in grid reliability and
self-energy generation via generators as in the case of Nigeria [8,32,78].
At the sub national level, governments can collaborate with NGOs to
scale up and replicate successful energy projects in rural communities.
Promoting the idea of multifunctional platforms and solar services
centers is key to reducing energy poverty in rural communities and
enhancing the productive use of energy as evident in Mali and Senegal.
This will help increase purchasing power and demand for energy [79].
Additionally, investment into unexploited and underexploited renew­
able energy is important to bridging electricity supply deficits and
increasing access. Studies show that Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) has a
mini-hydropower potential of about 3400 MW. West Africa’s theoretical
solar PV potential is over 100,000 TWh per year [1].
5. Discussion
The discussion builds on section 4 by highlighting similarities
amongst cross-sector factors (both electricity and oil and gas), factors in
oil and gas, electricity and regional specific factors for both regions
which should receive attention by policymakers. Energy sector gover­
nance, sustainability, reliability, affordability and the establishment of
regional energy pools emerge as similar cross-sector and cross-regional
factors. Because these factors are cross-regional and cross-sectoral, the
factors provide similar framings for adoption, adaptation and imple­
mentation of best energy practices. For the oil and gas sector, these
factors are the unavailability of energy resources and insecurity along oil
2
Public Notices: Suspension of Issuance of Provisional Wholesale Electricity
Supply Licenses. Available at http://www.energycom.gov.gh/public-notices
/93-suspension-of-issuance-of-provisional-wholesale-electricity-supply-licences
and Review of Power Purchase Agreements Govt saves $7bn – President.
Available on http://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/review-of-power-purchase
-agreements-govt-saves-7bn-president/and http://presidency.gov.gh/index.
php/briefing-room/news-style-2/511-7-billion-saved-from-review-of-24-po
wer-purchase-agreements-president-akufo-addo.
9
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259
and gas supply routes and installations. The issue of security is critical
due to the mounting activities of insurgents and the dynamics of energy
geopolitics. Next, energy demand-side management emerges as a sig­
nificant factor in both regions regarding the electricity sub-sector. En­
ergy demand-side management is a new approach to reducing energy
consumption and load profiles, slowing down the rate of capacity ad­
ditions under energy supply limitations.
Also, the discussion identifies research and development, resilience,
diversity and human capital as specific factors in the Global North
because of the ambitions and risks confronting the region. For clarity
research and development is a function of ambitions of the Global North
to be leaders in innovation around low carbon energy technologies while
resilience, diversity and human capital is a function of the natural,
human and technical risk confronting the countries in the Global North.
For West Africa, energy sector investment emerges as a key need for
improving energy supply security. See Fig. 2 for a graphical summary of
the discussion.
Based on the typology, the proposed characterisation of energy se­
curity in West Africa consists of cross-sector factors + region specific/West
Africa factors + oil and gas sector factors + electricity sector factors. i.e.
Governance, Sustainability, Reliability, Affordability, Sub-regional en­
ergy integration, Investment, Availability, Security, Energy demand-side
management.
5.1. Practical implications
To delineate practical implications and relationships amongst fac­
tors, these factors are categorised into conventional factors, non-
conventional factors and priority factors based on the authors prior
knowledge of factors per the literature review. The justification for
grouping these factors as conventional factors is that these factors have
long existed and received attention in the literature and policy practice
over the years whiles the non-conventional factors are factors that
emerge from recent literature. Non-conventional factors must be given
attention by sub-regional institutions like ECOWAS, ERERA, WAGPCo
and governments due to the need for enhancing energy integration and
sustainable energy production and consumption. Authors select priority
factors based on sub-regional needs and the transmissive effect of
implementing these factors. Per the categorisations we have three con­
ventional factors: reliability, affordability and availability; two non-
conventional factors: regional energy pools and sustainability; and
three priority factors: investment, governance, security and demand-
side management.
A justification for categorising priority factors is that for example, an
improvement in investment in the electricity subsector will enhance
reliability, strengthen commitments towards regional energy integra­
tion and energy efficiency of power plants (a component of demand-side
management) either by retrofitting or acquiring new plants. Likewise,
renewable energy-focused investments will contribute to sustainable
energy production and consumption. Also, demand-side management
will contribute to sustainability and increase electricity availability for
other uses given supply and investment constraints in capacity addi­
tions. Also, improving regional, national and maritime security will
enhance the reliability of energy supply. Lastly, a properly governed
energy sector will minimise corruption, improve regulatory, citizens
oversight, compliance to sector laws and eventually help cure legal
challenges hampering a successful energy integration and maximisation
of energy sector investments. See Fig. 3.
Based on the literature search and discussion of the results, the study
identifies gaps and presents suggestions for future studies in section 6.
6. Conclusion
The study sought to observe the case study of energy security in West
Africa by answering the following research questions i) What factors
characterise energy security in the Global North? ii) What factors
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259

characterise energy security in West Africa? iii) What are the typologies
of these factors? iv) What research gap and future directions exist for
scholars and practitioners in the field of energy security in West Africa?
An integrative review of the literature and content analysis is used to
arrive at study findings. The study finds that, energy security in the
Global North is characterised by five cross-sector factors + four region-
specific + three non-regional and sector-specific factors for the electricity,
oil and gas sector. The five cross-sector factors are governance, sus­
tainability, reliability, affordability, regional energy integration whiles
the four region-specific factors are research and development, human
capital, resilience and diversity. The three non-regional and sector-
specific factors for the electricity, oil and gas sector are energy
demand-side management, availability and security.
Second, energy security in West Africa is characterised by five cross-
sector factors + one region-specific + three non-regional and sector-specific
factors for the electricity, oil and gas sector. The five cross-sector fac­
tors and non-regional and sector-specific factors are the same as in the
North except for Investment. See Fig. 3.
The study concludes that energy security in the Global North and
West Africa is characterised by similar cross-sector factor i.e., Gover­
nance, sustainability, reliability, affordability, regional energy integra­
tion and similar sector-specific factors i.e., energy demand-side
management, availability and security. The difference lies largely in the
region-specific factors and thinly in the nature of the manifestations of
similar factors in both regions which may be influenced by sub-regional
needs, risks and ambitions. For example, the manifestation of good en­
ergy sector governance in the Global North is to reduce energy sector
emissions, reduce energy market asymmetries, nuclear terrorism, at­
tacks by insurgents and the geopolitics of energy whiles good energy
sector governance in West Africa manifested as conflict management,
reducing corruption, increasing demand for transparency, account­
ability, good environmental governance, improving socio-economic
growth and development and instituting appropriate legal and regula­
tory frameworks. The gaps identified in this review are that; first, there
is a dearth of scientific literature on energy security in West Africa. The
study areas covered in this review via the literature search strategy
deployed are; Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Benin and the Gulf
of Guinea. The study conducted in this area focuses on an aspect of
energy security (See Table B 1 at Appendix). For example, the study on
the Gulf of Guinea focuses on maritime security and how it affects oil
and gas production and supply. Another gap found by this review is that
factors such as sustainability, security, energy sector investment have
been understudied. As a suggestion for future study, researchers should
conduct studies on security, sustainability and investment and the nexus
with energy security to understand how these factors have evolved and
impact energy security in West Africa. Additionally, more sub-regional
studies on energy security should be conducted like what pertains to
the European Union. Also, factors such as resilience, human capital,
research and development should be studied to understand the case of
West Africa.
The justification for future study on the aforementioned factors is
that the issue of sustainability is critical to the achievement of sustain­
able development goals whiles security is critical due to cases of mari­
time disputes in the sub-region and the mounting activities of extremists
groups [80]. Next, the success of national climate finance strategies,
West Africa Power Pool and other regional energy integration strategies
will be premised on the level of investment committed by governments
and the private sector. The subject of resilience is important due to
climate impact on energy resources and systems as concluded by studies
that Africa will have the most impact from climate change [81,82].
Future studies can improve on this work by expanding the number of
databases for literature on the subject and including studies in other
languages than only those in English. The study contributes to the dearth
of studies on energy security in West Africa thereby increasing the Africa
voice on the subject. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no review
paper on the subject has been produced on West Africa. It also identifies
factors that have been understudied and provides direction for future
study.
Declaration of competing interest
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.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their heartfelt gratitude to Mrs. Gertrude Owusu
and Mr. Jones Adu Akoto for proofreading this script at no cost.

Appendices.
Table A.1
Results for Literature Search

Period Database Limited to Search Strings Number of relevant articles

Phase 1: 20th July Google Title, keywords, and abstract Energy security definition” 14
2019–August 25, 2020 Google Scholar Title, keywords, and abstract “Energy security Ghana”, “Energy security 12
for the period 2010–2020 Nigeria”, “Energy security Burkina Faso”,
“Energy security and sub-Saharan Africa.
Mendeley alerts - - 4

Phase II: 18th – Database Limited to Energy AND Energy security AND Africa Energy security AND West
December 24, 2020 Africa Africa,
Energy security + West
Africa
Results Results Number of Results Number of
relevant articles relevant articles
African Journal of Science, Title, keywords and abstract 287 results 125 3 48 2
Technology, Innovation and
Development
African Security Review Title, keywords and abstract 200 results 199 3 114 5
African Journals Online Title, keywords and abstract About About 9 About 5
17,700 4010 2220
results
African Development Review Title, keywords and abstract 169 96 2 50 2
Title, keywords and abstract 588 results 186 4 65 5
(continued on next page)

10
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259

Table A.1 (continued )

Period Database Limited to Search Strings Number of relevant articles

Energy for Sustainable

Development
International Journal of Energy Title, keywords and abstract over 11,000 over 1 over 1
Sector Management 5000 2000
Energy Research & Social Science Title, keywords and abstract 439 results 241 6 81 2

Fig. A.1. Search and literature selection process .

Table B.1
Literature

Author Title Country Analytical Method Publication

Type

[83] Energy Security in the 1990s Global Energy market review Journal
article
[40] Ensuring Energy Security Global Energy market review Journal
article
[10] Conceptualizing and measuring energy security: A synthesized Western Countries Survey, focus group discussions, literature Journal
approach review, Delphi technique article
[41] Conceptualizing energy security Austria, UK, Italy Literature review, comparative Journal
analysis using selected indicators article
[84] A broadened typology on energy and security Global Literature review Journal
article
[85] An international assessment of energy security performance. Japan, Laos Myanmar +15 Survey, focus group discussions, descriptive Journal
other countries analysis of energy security performance article
[42] The concept of energy security Western Analysis of the 4 As Journal
article
[4] Energy security: Definitions, dimensions, and indexes Western Literature review, trend analysis of evolving Journal
definitions article
[59] A review of renewable energy sources, sustainability issues and Global Literature review Journal
climate change mitigation article
[3] Definitions and dimensions of energy security: a literature review. Global Literature review Journal
article
[86] Updating energy security and environmental policy: Energy Germany, China, Russia Integrative literature review, comparative Journal
security theories revisited analysis, identification of ‘international article
relations’ and ‘energy’ research discourse, case
studies
[87] Tajikistan
(continued on next page)

11
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259

Table B.1 (continued )

Author Title Country Analytical Method Publication
Type

Rethinking energy security and services in practice: National A risk assessment, review of Three energy Journal
vulnerability and three energy pathways in Tajikistan. security plans article
[49] Conceptualization of energy security in resource-poor economies: Singapore, South Korea, Documentation analysis, comparative study and Journal
The role of the nature of economy Japan, and Taiwan capitalism theory article
[43] Energy security and sustainability Global Literature review Journal
article
[88] Global Energy Security Market Global Energy market review Web report
[89] Energy security - Areas of work Europe and Asia Pacific Strategic oil stock analysis Web report
[90] Energy Security Issues. Energy Economics Global Literature review, global energy market analysis Book
[56] What does energy security mean? Korea, Vietnam and Historical and methodological analysis Book Chapter
Yugoslavia
[91] The reality behind EU “energy security” the case of Nigeria. 2011. Nigeria Fact-finding approach Report
[8] A short excursion into the Nigeria energy supply mix 2012 Nigeria Review of the energy mix and resource base of Book Chapter
Nigeria
[58] Promoting International Energy Security West Africa with focus on Parametric Analysis and interviews Report
Ghana, Nigeria
[92] Renewable energy potentials in Nigeria: Meeting rural energy Nigeria Review of renewable energy master plan and Journal
needs. energy policy Article
[5] Improving electricity supply security in Ghana - The potential of Ghana Literature review of RE resource Journal
renewable energy Article
[7] Biofuel initiatives in West Africa and the Sahel: potential for Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Questionnaire administration, focus group Journal
success Senegal, Niger, Mali and discussions, literature reviews Article
Sierra Leone
[93] Petroleum Product Pricing, Deregulation and Subsidies in Ghana: Ghana Policy analysis Working
Perspectives on Energy Security paper
[6] Analysing the Utility of Ghana’s New Renewable Energy Act as Ghana Comparative analysis of the Act with global best Conference
Catalyst for Switching on the Lights for National Development practices paper
[94] Re-defining Energy Security in Nigeria through Climate Change Nigeria Empirical comparative analysis between Masters
Risk Regulation Germany and Nigeria, legal transplantation thesis
[44] Towards Ghana’s Energy Security: An Analyses of Existing Natural Ghana Review of existing regulatory frameworks and Working
Gas Legal Frameworks in Ghana policies on natural gas paper
[95] Energy Security in West Africa: An Assessment Of Ghana’s Ghana Interviews, secondary data analysis Masters
Implementation Of The West African Power Pool (WAPP) And The Thesis
ECOWAS Renewable Energy Policy
[77] Burkina Faso Electricity Access Project Burkina Faso Country context analysis Project
document
[79] Reducing the gap between projects and policies: a comparative Mali and Senegal Literature review Journal
analysis of the ‘‘butanisation’‘programme in Senegal and the Article
Multifunctional Platform (MFP) experience in Mali
[45] Energy services for the rural poor: Analysis of solar service centers Ghana and Bur kina Faso Key informant interviews + FGD + Survey Journal
anb multifunctional platform and lesson for Ghana questionnaires + observation of installed units Article
[51] Turning The Tide: Revisiting African East Africa And West Africa: Literature review Journal
Maritime Security We extract portion for West Article
Africa. It focus on coastal
countries WA
[57] The relevance of the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea Account Journal
global energy politics Article
[30] Political economy and national security implications of resource- Nigeria Literature review Journal
based conflicts in Nigeria Article
[96] Prospects of ocean-based Nigeria Analysis of cost, energy security and Journal
renewable energy for West environmental Article
Africa’s sustainable energy future protection.
[97] Energy Generation Potential of West African Ocean Current: Gulf of Guinea Literature review Journal
Peculiarities, Challenges and Perspectives Article
[78] The economic cost of unreliable grid power in Nigeria Nigeria Cost-Benefit Analysis Scenario analysis Journal
Article
[31] Terrorism, insurgency, kidnapping, Africa Chronological account Journal
and security in Africa’s energy sector It had over 80% of the cases Article
reported cases in Nigeria ie
between 1999 and 2012
[37] Energy and Water Resources of Burkina Faso as Catalyst for Burkina Faso Descriptive analysis document review Journal
Development Article
[33] Electricity Investments: Legal Framework for Progressive Nigeria Literature review + review of laws Journal
Realization Article
[32] National Strategies To Promote Renewable Energy Development: Nigeria Literature review + review of laws Journal
Whither Nigeria? Article
[48] Modern energy access in peri-urban areas of West Africa: the case Senegal Key informant Interviews + survey + literature Journal
of Dakar, Senegal review Article
[98] Potentialities and limits of Jatropha curcas L. as alternative energy West Mamprusi district, Participatory Rural Appraisal method Journal
source Northern Ghana Article
to traditional energy sources in Northern Ghana
[99] Benefits and Challenges of Biodiesel Production In West Africa West Africa Literature review Journal
Article
[39] Rural Lagos, Nigeria Survey: 83 semi-structured in-depth interviews Journal
with 67 energy-poor households Article
(continued on next page)

12
G. Ofosu-Peasah et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 148 (2021) 111259

Table B.1 (continued )

Author Title Country Analytical Method Publication
Type

Work, food, rent, television: The role of lifestyles and experiences

on
household energy behaviour in rural Lagos, Nigeria
[38] Household cooking fuel choice: Evidence from the Republic Benin Multinomial probit model Journal
of Benin Article
[34] Mapping dynamics of low-carbon energy innovation for small Nigeria Review of the status of SHP and models for low Journal
hydropower technology in Nigeria, carbon energy Article
[50] Sustainable development of the West African Power Pool: West Africa Multi-region economic dispatch model Journal
Increasing Article
solar energy integration and regional electricity trade
[35] Regional Integration and Energy Sustainability in Africa: Exploring Case study of WAPP Content analysis Journal
the Challenges and Prospects for ECOWAS Article
[70] Electricity billing systems and household electricity use behaviour Ibadan, Nigeria Cross tabulations Journal
in Ibadan, Nigeria Article
[100] COVID-19 energy sector responses in Africa: A review of Africa with section on West Documentation of policy interventions Journal
preliminary Africa Article
government interventions

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