Endogenous and Exogenous Factors Affecting Energy Reforms in Africa: A Critical Analysis. (1st December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mngomezulu, Bheki R.
• Is Part Of: Journal of social sciences. Volume 49:Number 3-1(2016)
• Page Start: 195
• Page End: 204
• Publication Date: 2016-12-01
• Subjects: Apartheid -- Colonialism -- Crisis -- Independence -- Liberalization; Social sciences -- Periodicals; 300.5
• DOI: 10.1080/09718923.2016.11893613
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0971-8923

Abstract

Abstract: The demise of colonialism in the 1960s and 1970s and the resultant collapse of apartheid in 1994 marked a new epoch in African independence. The political leadership called for the reconfiguration of its energy sector. Traditional sources of energy lost currency while the industrial economy demanded more energy. As the population increased, energy demands increased too. Subsequently, the post-colonial state has been entangled in the dilemma of increasing energy supplies to meet the needs of its population and to simultaneously reduce carbon emission which disturbs the ozone layer. This paper draws from history and politics to expound the nature of the dilemma. Using various countries in southern Africa as examples, this paper revisits endogenous and exogenous factors, which affect energy reforms in Africa. It concludes that both the West and Africans are partly to blame for the current situation. The paper proposes that only joint efforts can redeem the current situation.