Can Africa's contested energy futures create opportunities for enhancing EU-African-European relations?

The policy brief examines the tension between Africa's need for universal energy access and the competing influences of China's coal-focused Belt and Road Initiative and the EU's green transition strategy. It highlights 'hotspots' of coal development in countries like South Africa and Kenya, noting that social resistance and civil society can halt fossil fuel projects. The author argues that the EU can better compete with China by moving beyond technology transfer to support social innovation, transparency, and mutually respectful business relationships that prioritize local job creation and industrialization over aid.

• African nations face a critical energy access gap, with only one third of the population having electricity, which hinders health, education, and income opportunities.
• China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has expanded significantly in Africa, with 43 of 54 nations signing cooperation agreements. The BRI promotes coal-fired plants as a central element, resulting in 34 projects across 11 African countries, partly because Chinese domestic policies encourage local coal industries to find foreign markets.
• South Africa is the dominant coal power hub in Africa, accounting for 75% of the continent's coal power generating capacity and generating approximately 90% of its own electricity from coal.
• In Kenya, civil society resistance successfully halted a Chinese-financed coal plant proposed for the UNESCO heritage site of Lamu, demonstrating the potential for public scrutiny to influence energy decision-making.
• The EU's strategy for 'green transitions' in Africa is undermined by the continued dominance of European multinational companies in the exploration of African fossil fuel resources.
• To improve relations and competitiveness, the EU should shift its framing from 'climate change' to 'energy security, economic development and job creation', and move from an 'aid' model to a 'business' model that emphasizes shared innovation and local manufacturing.
• Successful renewable energy diffusion requires 'social innovation' and inclusive benefit-sharing to prevent technologies from being stigmatized or left unused.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2020). Can Africa's contested energy futures create opportunities for enhancing EU-African-European relations? https://saiia.org.za/research/can-africas-contested-energy-futures-create-opportunities-for-enhancing-eu-african-european-relations/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Can Africa's contested energy futures create opportunities for enhancing EU-African-European relations? 2020. https://saiia.org.za/research/can-africas-contested-energy-futures-create-opportunities-for-enhancing-eu-african-european-relations/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Can Africa's contested energy futures create opportunities for enhancing EU-African-European relations? |date=23 September 2020 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/can-africas-contested-energy-futures-create-opportunities-for-enhancing-eu-african-european-relations/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2020can, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Can Africa's contested energy futures create opportunities for enhancing EU-African-European relations?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/can-africas-contested-energy-futures-create-opportunities-for-enhancing-eu-african-european-relations/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }