Skills Transfer and Women in Africa's Green Transition

The document examines the challenges of Africa's transition to renewable energy, highlighting a significant skills gap and the persistent under-representation of women in energy value chains. It argues that while gender-mainstreaming policies exist, they often lack the monitoring, evaluation, and comprehensive support systems—such as financial and technical assistance—necessary to create tangible change. The briefing specifically calls for the AU-EU strategic partnership to better integrate gender dimensions into its green transition and energy access pillars, particularly for youth and those in fossil-fuel-dependent economies to ensure a just transition.

• There is a significant gap between current skills and technology levels and the requirements of a renewable-led energy transition, necessitating a focus on education, technology transfer, and reskilling to ensure a just transition.
• Fossil-fuel-dependent economies, such as Nigeria, face higher political resistance to the green transition due to fears of unemployment, requiring tailored AU-EU strategies to address these specific economic vulnerabilities.
• Women are significantly under-represented in the energy sector; globally, they make up 48% of the workforce but only 22% of the traditional energy sector, a trend mirrored in Africa's renewable energy value chains.
• Gender-based targets for women's participation in energy investments are often ineffective because they lack comprehensive support measures (financial and technical) and robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
• A review of Rwanda's energy sector, despite its regional leadership, revealed a lack of enforcement and a deficiency in data and monitoring frameworks to support gender mainstreaming policies.
• The European Commission's communication on the European Green Deal failed to address the gender dimensions of the green transition, representing a missed opportunity for the EU's positioning.
• The briefing recommends that the AU-EU strategic partnership explicitly elaborate gender dimensions within its green transition and energy access pillars and promote the use of gender-based targets with associated monitoring.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2020). Skills Transfer and Women in Africa's Green Transition. https://saiia.org.za/research/skills-transfer-and-women-in-africas-green-transition/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Skills Transfer and Women in Africa's Green Transition. 2020. https://saiia.org.za/research/skills-transfer-and-women-in-africas-green-transition/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Skills Transfer and Women in Africa's Green Transition |date=27 September 2020 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/skills-transfer-and-women-in-africas-green-transition/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2020skills, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Skills Transfer and Women in Africa's Green Transition}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/skills-transfer-and-women-in-africas-green-transition/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }