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Critical Minerals in Africa: Energy Transition Supply Chains, Skills, and Strategic Policy
As a continent, we sit on the world’s largest reserves of cobalt, manganese, platinum, lithium and graphite. the very minerals that make electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar batteries and green...
Energy Access, Mini-Grids and the Hidden Fossil Dilemma: Solar That Still Runs on Diesel
As the sun sets over a village in northern Tanzania, the solar-powered mini-grid hums to life, lighting homes that were once in darkness. Children gather around charging phones, shop owners keep...
Locked In: The Debt, Subsidy and Oil Economy Holding Africa Back from a Just Energy Transition
Africa stands at a critical crossroads in its energy story. On one path lies renewal, powered by clean technologies, decentralised systems, local value chains and climate resilience. On the other...
Only One-Third of National Climate Pledges Include Fossil-Fuel Phase-Out, Where Does Africa Stand?
It is one of those statistics that seems too small for the size of the problem.Only about one in three of the world’s updated national climate pledges mentions the words “phase-out” or “phase-down”...
From Extraction to Industrialisation: Africa’s Critical Minerals Value Chain
Africa’s critical minerals are once again in the global spotlight, but not only for what is being mined, but also for what is not being made. As the clean-energy transition accelerates, African...
Africa’s Energy Transition Standstill: Why Sub-Saharan Readiness Is Failing to Improve
Even as the narrative of Africa’s renewable potential grows louder, the latest data reveals a sobering reality. Sub-Saharan Africa’s ability to transition from fossil fuels to clean power has...
Who Really Pays for Power? The Hidden Economics of Africa’s Electricity Access
It’s hard to forget the sound of generators at night.That deep, uneven hum that fills the silence after the national grid collapses again. Growing up in Nigeria, it was the soundtrack of progress and...
Financing Africa’s Power Gap: Why Access to Capital Still Determines Access to Electricity
For all the talk of solar revolutions and just transitions, one truth still defines Africa’s energy story: the continent’s access to power depends on its access to affordable capital. The latest...
Who’s Financing Africa’s Mineral Transition and On Whose Terms?
As the world races to decarbonise, Africa has emerged as the new frontier for the minerals that make the green economy possible. From cobalt and copper to lithium and graphite, the continent holds...
Measured Gas: A Permissible Role or a Trojan Horse in Africa’s Transition?
Between the rhetoric of fossil phase-out and the daily realities of power shortages, Africa faces a dilemma: can gas serve as a bridge without becoming a trap? The Atlantic Council’s recent report,...
Too Many Panels, Too Little Value: Africa’s Solar Import Dilemma
Almost everywhere you look across Africa, the sun is being harnessed, but not owned. From the shimmering rooftops of Nairobi’s new tech hubs to the sprawling solar farms outside Lagos, it feels like...
Responsible Minerals Finance: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and African Practice
Africa’s critical minerals are once again in the global spotlight, this time not for what’s being dug up, but for how it’s being financed. Last week, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)...