All Articles
Explore our latest insights and analysis
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...
Who Speaks for the Community? The Missing Link in Africa’s Energy Transition
When Grace, a 47-year-old mother of four in Uganda’s Kasese district, spoke at a local town hall meeting, her voice trembled. But what she said cut through: "We see cables and poles, but not power in...
Double Standards? Why Africa’s Gas Phase-Out Is Under Fire
How do you phase out gas in Africa when a mother in rural Nigeria still boils drinking water over a kerosene flame, or a health centre in Senegal powers its only incubator with a diesel generator?...
Green Gold Rush or Resource Grab? Inside Africa's Critical Minerals Boom
Under the midday sun in Kolwezi, in the southeastern stretch of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lucien, a 26-year-old father of three, kneels in a shallow mine pit, scraping cobalt-rich soil with a...
Fossil Fuel Phase-Out in Africa: Treaty, Trap or Turning Point?
In the corridors of global climate diplomacy, a new treaty is taking shape. The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, backed by climate leaders like Kumi Naidoo and supported by a growing coalition...
Beyond Raw Minerals: Can Africa Benefit from Its Critical Mineral Wealth?
In Kolwezi, in the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the earth gives way to cobalt-rich soil. Every morning, hundreds of artisanal miners, many without helmets or boots, descend into...