Decentralized renewable energy technology alternatives to bridge manufacturing sector energy supply-demand gap in East Africa: A systematic review of potentials, challenges, and opportunities

Review article, 2025

The economy of East Africa (EA) is striving for a structural transformation with a strong focus on expanding the manufacturing sector. However, challenges related to modern and reliable energy supply have hindered the sector's growth performance across the region. This systematic review explores the potential, opportunities, and challenges to integrating decentralized renewable energy solutions to bridge the energy supply-demand gap in the EA's manufacturing sector. It also provides up-to-date insights into the extent of integration of decentralized renewable energy technologies in the EA manufacturing sector. Relevant data and information for the review were retrieved from 46 references, including databases and web-based sources. The findings highlight that the EA region possesses abundant untapped solar, wind, and bioenergy resources that can close the sector's energy supply-demand gap. The review also reveals that renewable energy solutions are becoming increasingly techno-economically competitive with conventional energy sources for hybrid and stand-alone applications in the manufacturing sector. However, several challenges impede the integration of decentralized renewable energy technologies in the sector, including a lack of enabling regulatory frameworks, limited financing options, limited access to renewable technologies, and a lack of skilled labor. Nonetheless, international initiatives aimed at supporting developing countries in combating climate change can help overcome the region's financial and technological constraints by facilitating technology transfer, capacity building, and offering affordable financing options. Furthermore, the ambition of East African nations to expand their manufacturing sectors presents a stimulating opportunity to accelerate the integration of decentralized renewable energy technologies into the sector.