Abstract (eng)
Nigeria, despite being one of the largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa and possessing vast resources of both renewable and non-renewable energy, is host to one of the largest populations without electricity access. Building upon the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI) and further conducting a set of multiple regression analyses, this paper aims to capture and assess the complex nature of energy poverty and the level of energy deprivation experienced in Nigerian households based on the data of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for 2003, 2008 and 2013. While observing a slight improvement in the country’s efforts in expanding energy access to mitigate energy poverty, and investigating causes and potential solutions based on the empirical results, we conclude that despite the large amount of policy initiatives, none can claim to be effective in their implementation and sufficient in the face of rapid population growth and increasing energy demand. Thus, we stress the need for the national government to pursue the consistent and effective implementation of existing and planned national policies and strategies aimed at ensuring reliable, efficient and universal energy access. Finally, acknowledging that the MEPI is a relatively new approach, we purport the value of using the MEPI as an appropriate analysis tool; allowing researchers to tailor the proposed methodology to the specific needs of the research, while also better reflecting the larger energy poverty scenario in their selected country of analysis.