Energy Transition Africa

Fossil Fuel Revenues in Decline: Who Pays for Africa’s Transition?

During one of my earliest visits to the Niger Delta, I met a fisherman who showed me the mangroves where his father had worked. The waters were slick with oil,…

African family near flood-damaged home with debt paperwork stacked, symbolising climate loss and damage burden.

Energy Transition

Who Pays for Loss & Damage? Beyond Adaptation Grants

At the just-ended Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, I found myself circling back to one persistent question: who really pays for loss and damage in Africa? In side events…

Vincent Egoro September 15, 2025Africa adaptation finance, Africa COP30 negotiations, Africa loss and damage, Climate justice Africa, debt-for-climate swaps, Green Climate Fund, just transition Africa, loans vs grants

Shipping containers stacked at sunset, symbolising Africa’s debt-heavy climate finance system.

Governance & Transparency

Africa’s Climate Finance: Stuck in Debt Mode

Today, I am attending the opening of the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and one issue is already at the centre of my reflections: Africa’s climate finance is…

Vincent Egoro September 8, 2025Africa adaptation finance, Africa climate finance, Africa debt and climate, Africa renewable finance, Climate justice Africa, climate loans vs grants, debt-for-climate swaps, just transition Africa

Cargo ship with containers in foreground, solar panels and wind turbines under construction in background, symbolising Africa’s energy transition.

Governance & Transparency

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 prosperity…

Vincent Egoro September 5, 2025Africa climate finance, Africa energy transition, Africa resource nationalism, critical minerals Africa, ESG Africa, just transition Africa, local value addition Africa, renewable energy Africa

African village at dusk, half illuminated by solar lamps and half in darkness, children walking toward light, symbolising just energy transition.

Energy Transition Governance & Transparency

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…

Vincent Egoro September 3, 2025

Cargo ship leaving African port with export containers, unfinished factory in background at golden hour, symbolising Africa’s critical minerals export vs industrialisation challenge.

Critical Minerals

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,…

Vincent Egoro September 1, 2025Africa critical minerals, Africa mining value addition, Africa resource governance, Climate justice Africa, cobalt Africa, EV battery supply chain Africa, just energy transition Africa, lithium Africa

African power lines at dusk with overlaid currency symbols, representing local-currency climate finance as a COP30 demand.

Energy Transition

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…

Vincent Egoro August 29, 2025Africa climate finance, Africa energy transition, Climate justice Africa, COP30 Africa, finance in local currency, FX risk Africa, just energy transition Africa, renewable energy Africa

Old mining contracts stacked in front of an African mine site, symbolising rigid agreements that limit Africa’s resource governance and just transition.

Governance & Transparency

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 around…

Vincent Egoro August 22, 2025Africa mining agreements, critical minerals governance, extractives governance, just energy transition Africa, mining contracts reform, resource governance Africa, stabilisation clauses, sustainable mining Africa

African woman cooking on a traditional three-stone fire with smoke rising, representing energy poverty and the need for clean cooking solutions in rural Africa.

Energy Transition Uncategorized

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.…

Vincent Egoro August 18, 2025Africa, Energy Poverty in Africa, Gender and Energy Transition in Africa, Gender and Just Energy Transition, just transition, Value Addition of Critical Minerals in SADC, Women and Clean Energy Access

African miner overlooks a Southern African open-pit mine at sunset.

Critical Minerals

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…

Vincent Egoro August 11, 2025Africa industrialisation, community benefits, critical minerals, green hydrogen, just energy transition, mining policy, Namibia lithium, platinum, renewable energy transition, resource governance, SADC cooperation, Southern Africa, sustainable development, value addition, Zambia cobalt, Zimbabwe lithium