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

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

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…
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.

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…
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.

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.…
African civil society representative at a negotiation table with climate adaptation maps and debt documents, symbolising Africa’s struggle between fiscal obligations and climate action.

Debt-for-Climate Swaps: Lifeline or Leash for Africa’s Green Future?

Everybody frames swaps as innovation. But who controls the script, and who ends up on the cutting room floor? Debt-for-climate swaps are enjoying a moment. Policymakers and international institutions are…
Four children playing under solar streetlights in a Goma neighbourhood at dusk with mountains in the background.

In the Shadow of Conflict, Solar Power is Rebuilding Lives in Goma

It is evening in Goma, and the sun has just slipped behind the jagged hills that surround this bustling city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. As darkness falls,…
African coal town residents contrast with foreign consultants managing climate funds

Who Truly Benefits from Just Transitions in Africa? The Rising Tide of Elite Extraction

In recent years, Africa has been hailed as a leader in designing just transitions, energy shifts that protect both the planet and people. Among the most ambitious is the Just…