Understanding the dynamic behaviour of Sub-Saharan African households as they move along the energy ladder is essential for the energy transition in developing countries. This study applies Fixed and ...Random effect panel data models to analyse the drivers of rural and urban households' energy transition in Nigeria from 2010 to 2018. The estimation results from the panel models with robust standard errors show that rural households tend to increase their expenses on fuel sources that potentially substitute the energy source whose prices have increased. However, there is no significant relationship between the price and expenditure on different fuels in urban households. Irrespective of spatiality, we find that aside from income – education, household size, and internet access are essential drivers of household fuel choices. More importantly, we find evidence of reverse energy transition. We argue that this reverse energy transition limits the shift to cleaner fuels and increases the economic vulnerabilities of rural households. Our analysis also reveals that Nigerians’ preference for fuels is shifting to be price inelastic. We make a strong case for policies and interventions that raise household income, empower women, reduce the cost of living, and improve clean and affordable energy access to encourage energy transition.
•Analyse the drivers of rural and urban households' energy transition in Nigeria.•Irrespective of spatiality, income, education, family size are essential drivers.•We found evidence of reverse energy transition in Nigerian households.•Nigerians' preference for fuels is shifting to be price inelastic.•We make a strong case for policies and interventions for energy transition.
The most common household fuel utilized in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria is kerosene, liquified petroleum of gas (LPG), firewood, charcoal, and electricity. These energy commodities are ...contributing to simplify people's life. They are used in satisfying energy demands such as cooking, heating, and lighting for every single home. The energy prices were collected from 2010 to 2021, and we forecasted from 2022 to 2024. There is data available from 2010–2021 about prices for some of these commodities, but they are scattered, narrow, and in some cases, there is just a general-referred value for the whole nation and only for a single year from the past. These situations have limited the development of economic studies which undertake analyses regarding consumers’ behavior. The forecasted fares for kerosene and LPG were calculated under the basis of accessible information but limited by the National Bureau of Statistics of Nigeria. The available electricity tariffs were collected from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission from the existing eleven private electricity distribution companies (DISCOS). In the case of firewood and charcoal, the costs were estimated departing from the research work of Gujba et al. 1. In the second part, we specify the way how data was obtained and its treatment for specific time periods. The statistics include the values for each fuel in the different geopolitical regions and for the most popular presentations available to the end customers. The forecasting was developed for past and future years during the under-study period of time. The information presented in the article refers to the research study: Urban and rural household energy transition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does spatial heterogeneity reveal the direction of the transition?
