Renewable electrification and local capability formation: Linkages and interactive learning

This paper discusses the prospects for developing production and innovation capabilities arising from renewable electrification efforts. This discussion falls at the intersection of several literatures within innovation studies and development studies. It requires a combination of ideas from across several academic fields of study. This paper focuses on value chain linkages and interactive learning. Because this is largely unexplored terrain, the paper seeks to provide conceptual framing based on insights from the literature and it discusses whether linkages within the global South offer specific advantages over North–South linkages. It then uses this conceptual framing to draw insights from the case of renewable electrification with wind and solar PV in Kenya. It ends by identifying key avenues for promoting interactive learning in this context.