Energy Transition Africa

Stack of debt paperwork with African farmland split between drought and flood, symbolising climate finance challenges.

Adaptation or Debt? Africa’s $50 Billion Dilemma

A summit of promises and risks The second Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa closed with bold headlines: African leaders committed to mobilise $50 billion a year for climate solutions…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk September 12, 2025adaptation finance Africa, Africa climate finance, Africa climate summit, Africa COP30 negotiations, Africa debt crisis climate, Africa energy transition, Climate justice Africa, loans vs grants climate

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

Fossil Fuel Phaseout

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 past…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk August 27, 2025Africa energy transition, AGN position, climate finance, climate finance Africa, Fossil fuel phaseout Africa, FX risk renewables, grid investment Africa, renewable energy Africa

Stacked solar panels in wooden crates on Tangier dockside, crane lifting pallet toward city rooftops at golden hour, symbolising Africa Chinese solar panel imports and dependency.

Energy Transition

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…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk August 25, 2025Africa solar imports, Chinese solar panels Africa, climate finance, critical minerals, energy transition, local manufacturing solar Africa, renewable energy transition Africa, rooftop solar Africa, solar dependency 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 city with diesel generator and flickering lightbulb in foreground, solar panels and sunrise in background — symbolising outdated zombie energy systems blocking renewable transition.

Energy Transition

Africa’s Zombie Energy Systems: The Hidden Barrier Stalling a Just Transition

The paradox of darkness in the age of sunlight On a humid evening in Lagos, a shopkeeper wheels out a diesel generator, its rattle and fumes filling the street as…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk August 20, 2025Africa energy transition, energy poverty Africa, financing energy Africa, outdated energy infrastructure Africa, regional power pools Africa, renewable energy Africa, solar potential Africa, zombie energy systems