Energy Transition Africa

An industrial smokestack emits haze beside stacks of mineral ore under cloudy skies in Africa.

Clean or Compromised? The Dirty Dilemma of Refining Africa’s Critical Minerals

Africa is home to more than 30% of the world’s critical minerals; cobalt, lithium, manganese, graphite, all essential for the global energy transition. But while the world’s richest economies are…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk June 12, 2025critical minerals, CriticalMineralsAfrica, energy transition, ESG Africa, fossil fuels, Green industrialisation, just transition, refining, ValueAddition

A high-resolution digital image of a South African open-pit mine, showing layers of excavation and industrial equipment, representing the country’s Critical Minerals Strategy.

Critical Minerals

From Raw Deals to Real Power: Can South Africa’s Critical Minerals Strategy Deliver?

South Africa has just made a bold move. Its newly unveiled Critical Minerals Strategy signals a shift from being a raw material supplier to a regional powerhouse in mineral beneficiation…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk May 28, 2025AfricaEnergyTransition, CriticalMinerals, CriticalMineralsAfrica, GreenIndustrialisation, SADC, SouthAfrica, ValueAddition

A middle-aged African miner stands in a muddy open-pit mine, highlighting the environmental and social costs of mining for critical minerals.

Community Impact

Beneath the Surface: How Zambia’s Mining Disaster Exposes the Human Cost of the Energy Transition

On a quiet morning last month, disaster struck in Zambia’s Copperbelt. A tailings dam at a Chinese-owned copper mine burst, releasing toxic sludge into the Kafue River. Communities downstream woke…

Energy Transition Africa Editorial Desk May 27, 2025CopperMining, CriticalMinerals, CriticalMineralsAfrica, EnergyTransitionAfrica, EnvironmentalJustice, EthicalMining, SustainableAfrica, ZambiaMining

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

An African miner working in a dusty open-pit mine, extracting lithium ore destined for global energy markets, highlighting the lack of local mineral processing.

Critical Minerals

We Dig, They Win: How Africa’s Raw Mineral Exports and Currency Chaos Are Undermining a Just Transition

Every day, truckloads of lithium, cobalt, and manganese leave African soil headed for China, Europe, and North America. These are the building blocks of the energy transition—used in solar panels,…

Vincent Egoro April 21, 2025AfricaTransition, CriticalMineralsAfrica, CurrencyVolatility, EnergyJustice, JustTransition, NigeriaMining, ValueAddition

Critical Minerals

Africa Can’t Afford Another Raw Deal: Why Value Addition Must Power the Green Transition

The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently sent a clear message: Africa must stop exporting raw critical minerals and start building local value chains. As someone deeply involved in the continent’s…

Vincent Egoro April 17, 2025AfDB, AfricaTransition, CriticalMineralsAfrica, GreenEconomy, JustTransition, LocalProcessing, ValueAddition