Energy Transition in Africa and Beyond: Bridging Policy, Innovation, and Inclusion

The energy transition in Africa represents a pivotal opportunity to reshape the continent’s economic and environmental future. As the world faces pressing challenges related to climate change, energy access, and sustainable development, Africa stands at the forefront of this transition, characterized by a unique set of opportunities and challenges. This presentation explores the critical interplay between policy frameworks, innovative technologies, and inclusive community practices. Recent initiatives across African nations reveal a growing commitment to sustainable energy solutions. The continent is rich in renewable resources such as solar, wind, and bioenergy; however, the pace of transition remains uneven. Policymakers increasingly recognize the need for comprehensive energy policies that enhance energy access and security while promoting economic growth and environmental sustainability. Innovative technologies including energy storage, smart grids, and decentralized systems are reshaping energy production and consumption. Successful adoption depends on inclusive engagement of local communities and collaboration among governments, industry, civil society, and academia. Addressing sociocultural factors and indigenous knowledge systems is essential to ensure equitable participation, particularly for women, rural and low-income communities. Through collaborative discussions, case studies, and expert insights, this paper highlights strategies that advance clean energy while embedding equity and inclusion. By bridging policy, innovation, and community engagement, it aims to contribute to a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient energy future for Africa and beyond.

This paper examines how government financial incentives on electric vehicles (EVs) shape consumer vehicle choice and downstream greenhouse gas emissions in the context of energy transitions. We develop a structural random-coefficient logit demand model to quantify how government incentives influence substitution patterns between electric vehicles (EVs) and gasoline vehicles (GVs), and to assess the environmental consequences of incentive withdrawal. We apply our model to a unique dataset from the U.S. automotive industry, covering 62 brands and 397 car models from 2015–2025. The results show that the government incentives have a significant impact on EV adoption. Counterfactual simulations suggest that eliminating the government incentives offered between 2023 Q1 and 2025 Q2 would result in a reduction of 1,387,367 qualified EV sales, with most displaced demand shifting to GVs. These reallocations increase annual CO2 emissions by 4,276 kilotons and total annual greenhouse gas emissions by 4,501 kilotons, alongside $1,647.86 million in additional fuel costs. The findings highlight the central role of government incentives in sustaining EV demand and achieving climate and energy policy goals. While our empirical analysis focuses on the United States, the findings offer general insights for energy-transition policies in regions facing subsidy redesign or withdrawal, including emerging and developing economies.

Climate change presents a multidimensional global challenge that demands innovative, interdisciplinary responses integrating science, technology, policy, and societal action. This paper explores the role of renewable energy and sustainable technologies in mitigating anthropogenic climate change, with a focus on the African context. It identifies key controversies surrounding climate change political, scientific, religious, and ideological and emphasizes that these debates often obscure the urgent need for actionable solutions. The study highlights fossilfuel–driven emissions as the dominant driver of global warming, with direct implications such as rising temperatures, extreme weather events, ocean acidification, and depletion of natural resources. A comprehensive review of renewable energy pathways including solar, wind, biofuels, hydrogen, hydro, geothermal, and circular carbon economy models demonstrates their potential to accelerate global and national energy transitions. Special attention is given to Nigeria’s underutilized renewable energy resources, including vast solar potential, emerging lithium deposits for battery technology, and abundant biomass from tropical seed waste suitable for greenchemistry biofuel production. The analysis also presents breakthroughs in hydrogen energy, blue and circular economies, and innovations in lithium battery technology as crucial levers for global de-carbonization. The paper concludes by proposing interdisciplinary collaboration, public enlightenment, renewableenergy incentives, policy reforms, and expanded research and development as strategic imperatives for Nigeria and other developing nations. Collectively, these measures could strengthen energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance resilience to climate change.

Abstract
Africa’s energy transition depends not only on policy innovation and green technologies but also on education systems capable of developing an inclusive, sustainability-literate workforce. This paper examines the role of chemistry and science education in advancing Green Chemistry and Engineering goals within Africa’s energy transition agenda, with emphasis on policy alignment, curriculum innovation, and inclusion.
Drawing on Green Chemistry principles, sustainability education literature, and practice-based insights from teacher education institutions in resource-limited contexts, the paper explores strategies for embedding renewable energy concepts, energy efficiency, sustainable materials, and life-cycle thinking into chemistry curricula. It highlights inclusive, learner-centered pedagogies that expand participation in energy-related science pathways and support workforce development aligned with national and regional energy policies.
The paper positions science educators as critical intermediaries who translate energy transition policies into meaningful learning experiences that foster environmental responsibility, innovation, and practical skills. It concludes by proposing an education-driven framework that integrates Green Chemistry curriculum reform, teacher capacity building, and sustainable laboratory practices as scalable mechanisms for supporting an equitable and resilient energy transition in Africa.

The energy sector plays a crucial role in global emissions and climate change, with grid power generation being a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. As the demand for electricity continues to rise, there is a pressing need to transition towards green energy solutions and sustainable pathways in order to reduce emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change. However, forecasting energy input for grid power generation in the energy sector is a complex and challenging task, especially given the uncertainties surrounding future energy sources and technologies. This study aimed to address this challenge by utilizing scenario-based forecasting to analyse different pathways for energy input in the energy sector. The methodology of this study involved utilizing the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) software to develop and analyse different scenarios for energy input in grid power generation. The study considers a range of energy sources and technologies, including renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, coal, and hydro power, as well as fossil fuels. The scenarios were developed based on different parameters, such grid generation energy inputs, off-grid’ generation energy inputs, gas liquefaction energy inputs, oil refining energy inputs, oil and gas extraction energy inputs, natural gas energy inputs in the energy sector, power generation in the energy sector, off-grid power generation in the energy sector, outputs by processes in the energy sector, CO2 emissions in the energy sector, CO2 emissions in the energy sector for grid power generation, CO2 emissions in the energy sector for off-grid power generation, industrial energy consumption, industrial energy consumption by fuel. The forecast which covered the years 2000 and 2060 revealed less energy input for off-grid’ generation compared to ‘grid’ generation as well as less off-grid power generation compared to grid power generation. Less CO2 emissions were observed in the energy sector for off-grid power generation compared to grid power generation. The trend of outputs by processes in the energy sector was observed to increase exponentially from the year 2000 to 2060. This study emphasizes the importance of transitioning towards green energy solution and operating off-grid in the energy sector.

The electricity crisis in Nigeria remains one of the most persistent structural barriers to national development. Unreliable power supply drives dependence on diesel generators, raises production costs, limits scientific productivity, and deepens environmental and health burdens through sustained exposure to combustion-related air pollution. Although solar photovoltaics are increasingly promoted as a remedy, deployment in Nigeria has largely remained informal and weakly connected to research, local innovation, materials sustainability, and long-term system resilience. This paper proposes the Integrated Green Chemistry (IGC) Solar Laboratory as a practical and scalable pathway for addressing Nigeria’s power crisis through a convergence of renewable electricity generation, sustainable materials design, and real-world energy service delivery. The IGC solar laboratory model functions as a hybrid platform where a solar-powered micro-grid node capable of supplying reliable electricity to priority facilities, and a translational research ecosystem for advancing green photovoltaic materials, low-toxicity energy storage chemistries, and circular end-of-life management. Unlike conventional solar interventions that treat photovoltaics and batteries as isolated hardware, the model frames energy systems as chemical–electrical infrastructures shaped by lifecycle choices, including solvent selection, toxic element reduction, recyclability, and degradation pathways. This integration is particularly relevant for Nigeria, where hazardous waste management and solar panel recycling infrastructure remain limited. The Nigeria’s policy and institutional challenges and weak alignment between energy planning and sustainability governance is critical examined hereby and positioned within emerging national clean energy momentum, including legislative attention to electric mobility. IGC Solar Laboratory is hereby recommended as a credible missing link between scientific innovation and energy reliability, with high relevance and suitable for other low- and middle-income countries facing chronic grid failure and to meet 2030 SDG-7 energy target.

Many clean energy technologies still rely on critical metals that are hard to source sustainably and whose supply chains are exposed to price shocks and geopolitical risk. As demand grows, industry needs separation technologies that can recover these metals from process streams and waste in a way that is efficient and less dependent on aggressive chemicals or organic solvents.

This work presents a redox-switchable capture and release system based on an ortho-carborane (Cb) capable of selectively binding dissolved metal ions through electrochemical control. Cb’s framework can functionalized with tunable coordinating groups: pyridyl moieties enable efficient capture of lanthanides and NMC (Ni–Mn–Co) metals relevant to battery recycling, while phosphine oxide derivatives demonstrate high selectivity toward uranium species. By coupling ligand design with redox-active behavior, metal–ligand binding strength can be modulated through an applied potential, thus replacing traditional acid/base stripping protocols with an electrically driven process. The development of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of these redox active Cb ligands further enables reusable separation platforms compatible with electrochemical operation. This approach minimizes chemical consumption and secondary waste, offering a scalable, green alternative for industrial and environmental metal recovery.

Africa’s energy landscape is poised for transformation, with a growing population and rapid urbanization driving energy demands. Despite rich resources, 70% of Sub-Saharan Africa lacks electricity access. Africa faces a dual challenge: expanding energy access while aligning with global climate commitments. Oil and gas will remain crucial until 2050 while African countries are adapting to reduce emissions, focusing on natural gas as a transitional fuel.
The continent is yet to expand it energy access to support development while simultaneously aligning with global climate commitments and emissions reduction targets. Achieving this will require a carefully balanced approach, one that enables Africa to responsibly leverage its natural energy resources, including fossil fuels and renewables, while progressively transitioning toward cleaner energy systems that meet international environmental and sustainability standards.
Africa’s low global emissions contribution relatively means it needs time to develop like Western countries did, balancing energy access, economic growth, and sustainability. The continent’s industrialization and infrastructure lag behind, requiring balanced approaches to address these gaps while reducing emissions.
The African Energy Transition Strategy and Action Plan (ETSAP) guides the transition, with six pillars prioritizing clean energy access, efficiency, and sustainable development. Countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, and Angola are implementing policies to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, and regional cooperation. However, financing, infrastructure, and policy consistency remain key hurdles. Mobilizing investment and international support are crucial to achieving energy access and sustainability. Africa can emerge as a leader in sustainable energy growth with tailored strategies and cooperation.