Africa’s Green Transition must not become a new colonial project

What the report says

The Independent Uganda published a commentary by Dr. Melania Chiponda arguing that Africa’s role in the global shift to clean energy risks repeating older patterns of extraction unless communities have stronger rights and decision-making power. Chiponda says the continent holds key minerals for electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy systems, including lithium, cobalt, graphite, manganese, nickel and rare earths, while also expanding renewable electricity generation.

The article draws on discussions at a 2026 Regional Ecofeminist Convening in Harare, Zimbabwe, where activists, community leaders, researchers and legal experts examined what they described as “energy transition extractivism.” It cites concerns from mineral-rich areas including the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bikita in Zimbabwe, as well as Mozambique, Uganda and Madagascar, where communities face risks such as displacement, environmental damage, labour exploitation and limited consultation as demand for transition minerals grows.

Chiponda also points to renewable energy projects, including in Kenya, saying headline generation figures can obscure impacts on pastoralist and Indigenous communities such as loss of grazing land, cultural sites and inadequate compensation. She cites South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership, backed by an $8.5 billion international financing package, as a warning that political promises on reskilling and local economic benefits need enforceable obligations.

The commentary calls for transparent contracts, genuine consultation, stronger legal support for communities, cross-border collaboration and greater recognition of women’s roles in environmental decision-making. Its central argument is that Africa need not reject clean energy, but should resist a transition that leaves local people with the costs while investors and industrial economies capture most benefits.