Bridging modelling and justice: a scoping review for just energy access planning in sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) still faces persistent energy access deficits, with over 500 million people lacking access to electricity. Equitable electrification planning demands the integration of Energy Justice (EJ) principles beyond conventional techno-economic criteria. This study employs a scoping review of existing literature reviews to examine the extent to which socio-political dimensions of justice are incorporated in energy modelling for the region. The analysis reveals that, even in SSA-focused research, techno-economic dimensions dominate 60–80% of analytical attention. To bridge this disconnect, based on the qualitative and quantitative methods reviewed, we propose an interface between energy modelling and policy formulation comprising two complementary pathways: a soft-link, in which model outputs are evaluated through EJ-informed multi-criteria decision support, and a hard-link, where justice metrics are directly embedded as objectives or constraints within optimization models. Both pathways offer pragmatic entry points for operationalizing justice, though neither constitutes a full justice-first reconceptualization of modelling. Weconclude that advancing just energy access in SSA requires context-sensitive justice indicators, strengthened local modelling capacity, and institutionalized participatory processes. The proposed interface translates justice principles into planning tools, supporting energy strategies that are technically robust, socially equitable, and grounded in African realities.