New directions in conditional policy transfer to sub-Saharan Africa: the case of renewable energy policy transfer to ECOWAS by the EU

ABSTRACT

This article applies the policy transfer framework and the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to examine the transfer of renewable energy policy to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by the European Union (EU). The transfer of policy to ECOWAS was shaped by an asymmetrical power dynamic, the use of conditionality and narratives of allyship. I argue that the EU’s conditional policy transfer obstructs domestic policymaking in West Africa, and that its narrative of allyship is undermined by the focus on economic strength. Applying the policy transfer lens to the EU’s conditionality helps to position the engagement as coercive and to examine the recipient’s response to external interference.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article s’appuie sur le cadre de transfert des politiques et le cadre narratif des politiques (CNP) pour examiner le transfert de la politique des énergies renouvelables à la Communauté des États d’Afrique de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEDEAO) par l’Union européenne (UE). Le transfert de la politique à la CEDEAO a été façonné par une dynamique de pouvoir asymétrique, l’utilisation de la conditionnalité et des récits d’alliances. Dans cet article, je soutiens que le transfert conditionnel des politiques de l’UE entrave l’élaboration des politiques nationales en Afrique de l’Ouest, et que le discours d’alliance de l’UE est miné par l’accent mis sur la force économique. L’application du prisme du transfert des politiques à la conditionnalité de l’UE permet de positionner l’engagement comme coercitif et d’examiner la réponse du bénéficiaire à l’interférence extérieure.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy transfer
• Narrative Policy Framework
• West Africa
• renewable energy
• conditionality

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Transfert de politique
• cadre narratif des politiques
• Afrique de l’Ouest
• énergie renouvelable
• conditionnalité

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Claire Dunlop and Claudio Radaelli. Their guidance and encouragement helped to shape this study. Thank you to the research participants for their contributions to the study. The author is grateful to the journal editors and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Interview 1. 2017. Interview with EUEI PDF Official, Telephone, 4 April 2017.

2 Interview 3. 2017. Interview with Past EUEI PDF Consultant, Skype, 9 February 2017.

3 Interview 2. 2017. Interview with ECREEE Official, Telephone, 18 May 2017.

4 For example, in the case of accessions to the EEC in 1961, where the candidate countries were mostly developed countries, these countries already had in place the core requirements for joining the EEC, i.e. “functioning democracies and largely market-based economic systems” (Carroll 2014, 284).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Titilayo Soremi

Titilayo Soremi is an assistant professor (teaching stream) in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She received her PhD in politics from the University of Exeter. Her research interests include policy transfer, policy narratives and the Sustainable Development Goals. She has published articles in the International Review of Public Policy, Policy Design and Practice and the Global Journal of Social Sciences.