Adoption of a holistic framework for innovative sustainable renewable energy development: a case study

Abstract

ABSTRACT The majority of renewable energy projects in West Africa represent examples of technology transfer from the European Union (EU) to Africa. This paper proposes a holistic approach for delivering sustainable, technologically and economically viable renewable energy developments. A four-tiered methodological approach was used for identifying the opportunities and assessing their potential for contributing to the green transition of the region. The findings of this work indicate that technology transfer should be complimented with multi-disciplinary know-how flows, including match-funding financial support instruments, training and entrepreneurship schemes, monitoring and life cycle assessment tools and strategic policy recommendations for encouraging circular economy and water-energy-food nexus action. Without overlooking the challenge of West Africa’s fractionated renewable energy policy framework and markets due to the variety of local contexts, the adoption of such holistic frameworks creates new market opportunities for both European and African companies, contributes to Africa’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and drive sustainable green economic growth and job creation in the region.