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Africa urged to become global clean energy manufacturing hub, end reliance on imports – EnviroNews
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Africa has been urged to move beyond supplying raw materials for the global energy transition and position itself as a major manufacturer of clean-energy technologies through investment in local industries, innovation and circular value chains.
Riyad Mehdeb of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) made the call at a virtual Pan-African policy conference co-hosted by Warwick Business School and the Circular Economy Powered Renewable Energy Centre (CEPREC).
The conference, themed “Turning the Lights On: Unlocking Circular Value Chains for Africa’s Renewable Energy Transition”, brought together academics, policymakers and government ministers to examine opportunities for Africa to capture greater economic benefits from the global shift to renewable energy.
Mehdeb said Africa needed to move beyond its traditional role as a supplier of critical minerals and energy resources to become a producer of the technologies driving the low-carbon economy.
He observed that the continent was increasingly manufacturing for the world’s energy transition while depending heavily on imported technologies to meet its domestic needs.
“Africa is increasingly manufacturing for the world’s energy transition, while importing for its own,” he said.
According to him, 94 per cent of solar panels installed in Africa are imported from China, while much of the new manufacturing capacity is designed to serve export markets.
He said the imports cost the continent approximately $2.4 billion in the 12 months to June.
Mehdeb argued that the situation raised concerns about where the economic value generated by renewable energy investments ultimately remained, particularly regarding the maintenance, repair and replacement of imported equipment.
He called for a broader understanding of circular value chains, stressing that Africa needed a development model that retained energy, skills, technology, finance and materials within the continent.
“The old model exported raw materials, imported finished goods and burned imported fuel to run both.
“The new model starts from the energy source. Africa has more than anyone else. If we keep electricity, data, credit, skills and materials circulating at home, then that is how an energy transition becomes green industrialisation,” he said.
Mehdeb also highlighted the potential of combining renewable energy with artificial intelligence (AI), arguing that affordable solar power could provide the electricity needed to support digital innovation and technological development across Africa.
He said the continent could use locally generated renewable energy to power data infrastructure and develop AI solutions that address its specific needs, including applications in African languages.
With global demand for renewable energy technologies increasing, speakers at the conference said African countries had an opportunity to capture a greater share of the economic value through investments in manufacturing, innovation, recycling and regional supply chains.
Africa possesses approximately 60 per cent of the world’s solar resources but attracts only a small proportion of global energy investment, while much of its renewable energy equipment continues to be sourced from overseas.
Mehdeb said developing stronger local value chains would enable African countries to manufacture, maintain, repair and recycle clean-energy technologies closer to where they are deployed.
“Africa is about to be the largest clean energy system the world has yet seen,” he said, adding that the strategic question was where the economic value generated by the transition would remain.
He argued that retaining this value within Africa would support a different development model driven by locally produced energy, indigenous technological innovation, accessible finance and industries built around the continent’s mineral resources and growing workforce.
The conference also challenged perceptions about investment risks in Africa.
Mehdeb noted that African infrastructure loans had some of the lowest default rates globally, at approximately two per cent, suggesting that the risks associated with financing infrastructure and clean-energy projects on the continent were often overstated.
Beyond manufacturing, participants emphasised the importance of developing circular economy industries to manage renewable energy equipment at the end of its useful life.
With increasing numbers of solar panels, batteries and electronic devices expected to become obsolete, they said Africa could establish industries specialising in their repair, reuse, refurbishment and recycling.
Giuliana Battisti, Co-Director of CEPREC and Professor of the Economics of Innovation at Warwick Business School, said Africa needed to develop leadership in energy generation and focus on producing technologies locally.
She advocated coherent national policies that would support centres of excellence, attract skilled Africans trained overseas back to the continent and encourage the development of locally relevant solutions.
Battisti also stressed the need for financial systems capable of supporting innovation and transforming research ideas into commercially viable products.
“Africa doesn’t want to rely on technological dependence from overseas, but can launch its own competitiveness, becoming a leader in energy generation,” she said.
She described energy infrastructure as the foundation of economic development, noting that the circular economy offered significant opportunities for African countries to develop new industrial capabilities.
According to her, although developing countries are often locked into conventional production systems, Africa has an opportunity to establish a different pathway by using its existing skills and resources to develop and embed new technologies within its economies.
She said the continent could develop distinctive competencies in producing new materials, finding new applications for existing resources and moving higher up the global value chain.
Also speaking, Aslem Marungu, Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism of Namibia, said African countries must not limit themselves to consuming renewable energy technologies.
“Africa must not only be a consumer of renewable energy technologies. We must also be an active creator, recoverer and beneficiary of the value chains that sustain them,” he said.
Diana Dalton, Deputy High Commissioner in Kenya, similarly argued that appropriate investments and policy support could position African countries as leaders in circular innovation, sustainable manufacturing and green industrial development.
She said achieving this would require getting the necessary conditions for industrial development and investment right.
“If you get all of those things right, then Africa becomes not a consumer of renewable energy technologies, but really a leader in circular innovation, sustainable manufacturing and green industrial development,” Dalton said.
The conference underscored the need for African governments to integrate renewable energy development with industrial policies, skills development, research, innovation and circular economy strategies to ensure that the continent benefits economically from the global energy transition.
