Clean Energy Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa ^☆

Many clean energy ventures, particularly those in the early stage and operating in the developing world, never get off the ground because traditional sources of capital like banks tend to shy away from sectors that seem unfamiliar or too risky. As highlighted most recently in the COP21 Paris Climate Change summit in December 2015, there is a critical gap in market understanding of and limited scholarly research on the role clean energy entrepreneurship can play in addressing energy poverty and sustainable business model development in the developing world. To address these gaps, this chapter seeks to connect the theory and practice of clean energy entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. Three issues and questions will be explored in this chapter. First, what are the critical differences in terms of sustainability and entrepreneurship between industrialized OECD countries and emerging markets and developing countries? Second, what key issues and questions need to be addressed in order to design, build, and scale a clean energy entrepreneurial ecosystem in sub-Saharan Africa? Third, what is the future outlook for clean energy entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa?