Speaker: Dr. Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen, DIIS

Abstract
In 2006, Ghana set a target of 10% new renewable energy in its energy mix by 2020, but it has achieved much less (0.8%). What can explain this difference between policy and implementation? This lecture focuses on some of the main elements in the political economy of energy in Ghana that play a role when energy sources and technologies are prioritized. From developments elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa we know that development assistance has been instrumental in promoting the deployment of new renewable energy, but this does not appear to have been the case in Ghana. The seminar therefore outlines how development assistance has been used to promote renewable energy and how it interrelates with domestic priorities in Ghana and elsewhere on the subcontinent. Analytically, it draws on an adapted political settlement approach, which can help unpack issues of politics and power.

Biography
Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen is a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). He has worked on investments in and governance of land, forestry, energy, and the extractive industries in East Africa. In recent years, he has mainly focused on various aspects of the development of the natural gas sector in Tanzania from a political economy perspective. He has conducted field research in Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana. For more, see https://www.diis.dk/en/experts/rasmus-hundsbaek-pedersen