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Resource Nationalism and Renewable Finance: Africa’s Moment to Rise
From Abuja to Kinshasa, the tone of Africa’s energy debates is shifting. For decades, the continent’s mineral wealth was extracted and exported with little local value. Fossil fuels promised...
Just Transition in Africa: Beyond Rhetoric, Towards Real Communities
Few phrases have travelled as fast through climate diplomacy as “just transition.” From COP plenaries to ministerial communiqués, it rolls easily off tongues. The idea is simple but profound: as the...
Dig, Ship, Repeat? The Extractivist Trap in Africa’s Critical Minerals Boom
Walk into any electric vehicle showroom in Berlin, Los Angeles or Shanghai, and you are looking at Africa. The cobalt that steadies the battery, the copper that carries the current, and the manganese...
Finance in Local Currency: A COP30 Demand for Africa’s Energy Transition
At first glance, Africa’s energy transition looks as though it is finally gaining speed. Solar imports are at record highs, wind farms are sprouting across the Sahel, and hydro projects are being...
Africa Won’t Phase Out on Promises: Fossil Fuel Exit Demands Finance, FX and Grids
As the world looks ahead to next month’s Africa Climate Summit, negotiators are already circling one contentious phrase: “transitioning away from fossil fuels.” For African delegates, the lesson from...
Africa’s Solar Surge: Boom or Dependency?
On a hazy morning in Algiers, a flat-bed truck crawls through traffic stacked high with shrink-wrapped photovoltaic panels. It is an increasingly common sight from North Africa’s coast to the Sahel:...
Mining Agreements in Africa: Breaking Free from the Past
In 1998, the government of a mineral-rich African nation signed a 30-year agreement with a global mining company. The deal promised jobs, infrastructure, and royalties. Two decades later, communities...
Africa’s Energy Systems: The Hidden Barrier Stalling a Just Transition
On a humid evening in Lagos, a shopkeeper wheels out a diesel generator, its rattle and fumes filling the street as darkness swallows the neighbourhood. Two thousand miles south, in Johannesburg,...
Who Bears the Burden? Gender and the Energy Transition in Africa
Grace, a mother of four in rural Zambia, wakes before dawn to trek miles for firewood. She balances heavy bundles on her head, prepares meals over a smoky three-stone fire. Grace’s day is a story...
Powering the Future: Why SADC Must Embrace Regional Value Addition of Critical Minerals
On 17 August 2025, SADC heads of state will gather in Madagascar for a summit themed “Advancing industrialisation, agricultural transformation and energy transition for a resilient SADC.” The...
Solar Boom, Toxic Loom: Nigeria’s Green Energy Leap Risks Turning Toxic
Late one evening in Kano, amidst the glow of flickering kerosene lamps, Aisha, a mother of three, clutches her youngest as she steps outside. On the wall of her modest kitchen, a small solar panel...
Southern Africa: The Critical Minerals Anchor of the Global Energy Transition
When the World Economic Forum released its recent analysis on the role of Southern Africa in the global energy transition, one figure stood out: countries like Zambia, Namibia, and Zimbabwe...