Abstract
The future of work is a major source of uncertainty, especially in sub Saharan Africa (SSA), where climate change and artificial intelligence are changing the nature of agricultural employment, and where youth population is rising steadily. At the same time, SSA has the worldâs lowest rates of electricity access, presenting a barrier to economic productivity and gainful employment. According to the global tracking framework, decentralized renewable energy (DRE) technologies are fast becoming a popular vehicle for rapid delivery of electricity access, yet reports suggest the sectorâs expansion is hindered by a labor and skills gap. Thus, there is an opportunity for the growth of decentralized renewables to help tackle both universal energy access (SDG 7) alongside expansion of decent work opportunities (SDG 8). However, little data exists to date to support policy interventions. Our research explores the employment potential of the DRE sector by conducting the first comprehensive DRE sector jobs survey in SSA. We collect a yearâs worth of employment data from DRE companies in Kenya and Nigeria, two of the continentâs most prominent DRE markets. We find that although nascent and just beginning to scale, the sector has already grown a formal workforce comparative to traditional utility-scale power sectors and has an informal workforce that may be twice as large. This article highlights our key findings on employment footprint, workforce trends and skills gaps, providing a baseline for further data collection.
Highlights
Motivation: Exploring Energy Access and Decent WorkWith the growing adoption of artificial intelligence and dramatic changes in global population demographics, the future of work is a source of major uncertainty, in sub Saharan Africa (SSA)
While a young population can be a major boon to the local economy and a positive force for growth, if the capacity to create new jobs is not cultivated in tandem with the population increase, it can lead to massive unemployment, increasing dependency on the existing working population, and persistent poverty
By using our survey’s 2017 employment factors—with the caveat that these values will likely change in the future—and the latest market estimates publicly available for each technology type in each country, we provide at least a basic extrapolation of potential gross future decentralized renewable energy (DRE) sector employment
Summary
Motivation: Exploring Energy Access and Decent WorkWith the growing adoption of artificial intelligence and dramatic changes in global population demographics, the future of work is a source of major uncertainty, in sub Saharan Africa (SSA). The growing impact of climate change on precipitation patterns, heat stress, water availability, and extreme weather severely impacts productivity in Africa’s largely rain-fed agricultural sector, deepening its food crisis, and affects the predictability and availability of work for millions in farming, which employs over 65% of the continent’s labor force [1]. This is compounded by an increase in automation and mechanization, which reduces farm costs but jeopardizes traditional agricultural job opportunities.
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