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Energy efficiency management in Ugandan SMEs: assessing the role of behaviour

Never, Babette
Staff - Other (2015)

in: Pegels, Anna / Aurelia Figueroa / Babette Never, The human factor in energy efficiency: lessons from developing countries, Bonn: German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) / Pretoria: National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA), 25-41

In 2008/9 the GIZ Promotion of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Programme (GIZ-PREEEP) and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development of Uganda (MEMD) ran an innovative programme targeting energy-intensive SMEs in different regions of Uganda. The programme aimed to improve energy management practices as well as to influence future investment decisions, using peer-learning and local networks. This chapter identifies the following factors as major behavioural barriers to SME energy management in Uganda: short-term thinking and self-control problems (related to a lack of business skills), inefficient habits, a preference
for the current situation (status quo bias), and trust issues, particularly between the utility provider Umeme and SME owners. Behavioural drivers that have been shown to work well or could do so in the future include more first-hand experiences, framing communication around losses instead of gains (‘losing money with current practices instead of profiting through energy saving’), feedback, social comparisons, and peer effects (e.g.
social learning). To make long-term behaviour change easier for SMEs, challenges such as limited access to financing, a lack of information on efficient products, and insufficient business skills also need to be addressed.

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