Energy regime reconfiguration and just transitions in the Global South: Lessons for West Africa from Morocco's comparative experience

Working on the premise of the importance of comparative lesson-drawing for policy outcomes, and not ignoring the limitations of policy learning in practice as well as the crucial role of context in shaping transition outcomes, this article argues that the case of Morocco - a country at the forefront of renewable energy development in Africa - provides salient lessons for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in its design and implementation of the West Africa Clean Energy Corridor (WACEC). Focusing on two key dimensions of energy sovereignty, viz: (1) people’s ownership of the energy transition process, and (2) land use, livelihood issues, and environmental footprints, the paper discusses the implications of Morocco’s Noor Ouarzazate (Noor 1) solar project and illuminates the injustices embedded in the process, including their post-colonial ramifications, in order to better grasp the challenges that West Africa must tackle for its energy transition through WACEC to be truly just.