Environmental (Commonwealth Union)_ Under the African sun, a revolution is unfolding in silence. Imports of solar panels from China have increased 60% in the last year, with 20 nations breaking new records for buying photovoltaic gear. From Senegal to Tanzania, countries are tapping the continent’s enormous solar energy potential, sufficient to power the world many times over, potentially the greatest energy revolution since the industrial revolution. But this green dawn remains tenuous, open to a gigantic finance deficit and competing claims on Africa‘s resources.
The numbers tell of progress and profound challenge: solar imports tripled in non-South African nations, but Africa accounts for just 4% of global solar production, a staggering disproportion when Belgium installed as many solar panels last year as the whole of the continent. The 600 million Africans living off-grid and nearly one billion relying on dirty cooking fuels represent not just an energy emergency but a development crisis. According to Mercy Corps’ Melaku Yirga, “Renewable energy is not only Africa’s biggest chance, but it is also a matter of pressing need” for all aspects of life, from healthcare to food security.
This week’s Addis Ababa Africa Climate Summit underscores the delicate balance the continent must maintain. The leaders are calling for greater assistance from wealthier countries while insisting on their right to extract natural resources like massive gas deposits despite international climate concerns. Tanzania’s climate ambassador Richard Muyungi encapsulates this paradox: “We do not envisage anything to stop us using gas; we need it for our development.” This, of course, is in light of the fact that Africa produces only 4% of the planet’s emissions but is worst hit disproportionately by the resulting climate alterations, from devastating droughts to crop failures.
The funding gap is the largest barrier to Africa going green. While the continent needs at least $70 billion annually for climate adaptation, it managed to get only $15 billion in 2023. The shortage is as official development assistance from wealthy nations declines, with African governments, already burdened by the highest historical debt levels, attempting to bolster resilience. The price of inaction is stark: without immediate investment, climate impacts would wipe out one-fifth of Africa’s GDP by 2050, potentially causing migration crises that engulf the entire world.
Perversely, Africa’s green economic potential matches its vulnerability to climate risk. The continent has vast reserves of strategic minerals – cobalt, lithium, copper, and rare earths – that are used in international renewable energy technologies. Such potential has spawned a resource scramble in the mode of historic extraction dynamics, with attendant accusations of human rights violations within mining communities like the Democratic Republic of Congo. How can we utilise these resources to benefit local communities and avoid sustaining exploitation cycles?
The path forward is climate finance’s redesign. Rather than temporary grants that “rarely achieve their full potential,” in Yirga’s words, Africa needs long-term, predictable finance with government and citizen involvement. Private sector investment must be supplemented by public sector engagement, particularly for adaptation efforts with no apparent profit incentives but without which resilience is not possible. As the Global Centre on Adaptation’s Patrick Verkooijen warns, dismantling official development assistance funding would be “a stab in the back” that ends up harming rich nations as much as anyone else.
Africa’s youth—60% of the population under 25—is its greatest strength and its most pressing priority. If tapped successfully through green livelihoods and climate-resilient growth, the demographic dividend will fuel sustainable development. If left to mismanage it, it will fuel instability with far-reaching repercussions worldwide. The world is therefore confronted with a decision: invest today in the green revolution in Africa, or pay much higher prices tomorrow when climate effects and migration pressures are out of control. Only if the world provides the necessary assistance can the continent’s solar morning bring hope.
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