Energy Transition Africa

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…

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

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city with diesel generator and flickering lightbulb in foreground, solar panels and sunrise in background — symbolising outdated zombie energy systems blocking renewable transition.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Africa Editorial Desk August 20, 2025Africa energy transition, energy poverty Africa, financing energy Africa, outdated energy infrastructure Africa, regional power pools Africa, renewable energy Africa, solar potential Africa, zombie energy systems

Energy Transition

Green Goals, Grey Areas: The Politics of China-Africa Energy Relations

A few years ago, during a civil society exchange in Nairobi, a Kenyan energy advocate told me something that has stayed with me: “We’ve got panels. We’ve got Chinese engineers.…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk May 16, 2025Africa energy transition, AfricaTransition, BRI, ChinaAfricaRelations, CriticalMineralsAfrica, EnergyTransitionAfrica, FOCAC, GreenEnergyPolitics, renewable energy Africa, RenewableEnergyAfrica, ValueAddition

Four marine engineers in orange safety suits and helmets guide a thick, insulated power cable from the deck of a vessel into the sea during an offshore cable-laying operation.

Energy Transition

Powering Europe, Darkening Africa? The New Scramble for African Renewables

In 2025, as Europe scrambles to meet its climate goals and reduce dependence on Russian energy, a new frontier has emerged in the global race for clean power: Africa. Last…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk May 12, 2025Africa energy transition, Africa-Europe energy trade, electricity access, energy colonialism, energy justice, EnergyAccess, green colonialism, just transition, renewable energy Africa

A rural African woman walks past a disconnected solar panel installation beside her home, highlighting the disconnect between climate finance pledges and on-ground energy access.

Energy Transition

Pledges and Power Cuts: How Climate Finance Is Failing Africa

The promises came wrapped in billion-dollar ribbons. At COP summits, in glossy brochures, and during press conferences, world leaders pledged hundreds of billions for Africa’s clean energy future. But in…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk May 7, 2025Africa energy transition, ClimateFinance, ClimateJustice, EnergyAccess, EnergyPoverty, JustTransition, solarpower

Community Impact Critical Minerals

Batteries for the West, Burdens for Africa: The Cost of Green Minerals

As the world accelerates toward a net-zero future, Africa is rapidly becoming the ground zero for green energy’s raw materials. Cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lithium from…

Vincent Egoro April 1, 2025Africa energy transition, African mining governance, civil society and extractives, clean energy injustice, cobalt DRC, community rights mining, environmental justice, green minerals Africa, just energy transition, lithium mining Africa

Solar installer’s hand adjusting panel, bringing clean energy to an off-grid village in Africa

Community Impact Energy Transition

Solar Mini-Grids and Their Impact on Rural Communities in Africa

In a small farming village in northern Kenya, a quiet revolution is underway. A community that once relied on smoky kerosene lamps and long treks to distant markets now hums…

Vincent Egoro March 28, 2025Africa energy transition, clean energy, community empowerment, energy access Africa, renewable energy Africa, rural electrification, solar mini-grids, sustainable development