- Although Africa contributes less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it suffers the worst consequences of climate change and still receives only around 2% of global renewable energy investments.
- Mohamed Adow from the think tank Power Shift Africa tells Mongabay that delegates at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, must deliver a “just transition framework” that prioritizes African needs, expands access to clean energy, and strengthens green industrialization across the continent.
- Adow says he envisions an Africa that harnesses its transition minerals and renewable potential for its own prosperity — leading the global energy transition instead of powering other countries’ economies.
- In 2025, African countries experienced escalating climate disasters, including deadly floods and severe droughts, while facing cuts in U.S. aid funding.
For many parts of Africa, 2025 has been marked by extreme climate events. Between the deadly floods that struck the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, and the severe drought that gripped Chad, countries across the continent are being hit hard by the effects of climate change. Many have also suffered the consequences of a major political shift: the return to power of Donald Trump in the United States, followed by a significant decrease in funding for health programs and efforts to adapt to climate change.
Oil has once again found favor with the world’s leading economic power, which Trump has, for the second time in as many terms, pulled out from the Paris Agreement — under which countries committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change, in part by embracing renewable energy sources.
Then on Nov. 10, the COP30 U.N. climate summit opened in Belém, Brazil. Among the many delegates from Africa attending the gathering in the Amazon is Mohamed Adow, the founder and director of Power Shift Africa. This Kenya-based think tank was established in 2018 to mobilize climate action across Africa and promote climate and energy policies that aim for zero-carbon economies. Adow is also a member of the consortium Allied for Climate Transformation by 2025 (ACT2025), which brings together experts and leaders from climate-vulnerable countries, working to drive greater climate ambition on the international stage.
Adow spoke with Mongabay about his expectations from the summit from the perspective of the energy transition, and in particular how it will translate on the ground for African countries.
Mongabay: What do you expect from COP30?
Mohamed Adow: Africa is home to 18% of the global population, and we account for less than 4% of the global emissions. We require the delivery of the means of implementation, i.e., climate finance, clean technology and capacity building, so that we are able to implement the climate actions that Africa has pledged. We’re also looking at this COP to agree on a just transition framework that will allow us to prepare our communities and our workers for a changing climate.
The second thing that we’re looking for is the finalization of the Global Goal on Adaptation framework. We’re looking for formal political recognition under the COP to ensure Africa’s vulnerabilities are recognized, but also addressed coherently across all the different negotiation agenda items. We want to see an energy transition that enables the world to shift away from oil, gas and coal, which are responsible for the bulk of the emissions and climate change.
Mongabay: The Paris climate agreement was adopted 10 years ago. What is your assessment of the implementation of the promises made back then?
Mohamed Adow: We are at the crossroads. We are a continent that is home to 600 million people without electricity. We are also a continent that is incredibly blessed with renewable energy. And we haven’t been able to attract sufficient energy financing to help this continent [move away] from that [fossil fuel-based] energy and become a green leader. And, unfortunately, if you look at energy financing, since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, Africa has only been able to attract less than 2% of total renewable energy investments. This creates an implementation gap, and we are looking to address it through the COP so that we can help accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in Africa.
Mongabay: What are the priorities in terms of the energy transition for African countries?
Mohamed Adow: We have 1 billion Africans lacking access to clean cooking. When you look at sub-Saharan Africa, per-person electricity consumption is around 180 kilowatt-hours, compared to 13,000 kilowatt-hours in the United States. So there’s a gross inequality in energy access, and that requires a major shift in Africa to scale up energy access.
What we want to see is a new model of energy provision in Africa, the kind that can help unlock Africa’s productive sectors, social services that can help power our community needs, and can help us realize the potential of renewable energy. If you take the example of Kenya, our electricity grid is currently around 90% renewable, but we still have a quarter of Kenyans without electricity access. This is a challenge that needs to be addressed.
The choices we make about our energy system are going to determine whether we are able to live within the planetary limits. Two things can happen: we can continue to develop on a business-as-usual path where we don’t address the limited energy access challenge, or we can lead from that energy and become a green leader and help this continent deliver sustainable energy access without joining the league of the big polluters. And that will require fair finance, clean technology transfer, and capacity building.
Mongabay: Kenya gets nearly 90% of its electricity from renewable sources. By comparison, in the U.S., only 20% of its power supply comes from renewables. How can African countries lead a clean energy transition?
Mohamed Adow: Imagine a world where African countries, which are the producers of transition minerals, aggregate those resources and deliver a green industry that powers Africa’s needs and then exports the surplus to the rest of the world. Why should we export these scarce material resources that are essential for renewable energy generation and storage, when we can easily manage to generate long-term prosperity for Africans by adding value?
An Africa-led just energy transition will focus on meeting the needs for affordable, reliable, renewable energy sources that can help us achieve universal access for Africans and then power regional industrialization while achieving the African and climate goals. Take the example of the DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo]. The DRC is the biggest producer of transition minerals, but the rest of the world looks at the DRC as a place where they can source cheap, raw materials for their industrialization. Then Africa had to import those finished products, mostly using foreign exchange that we had to have access to.
We want to recognize the transition minerals as essential for decarbonization, but also for industrialization. And you can’t realize that aspiration if we continue to export these transition minerals. The way society and the economy have been structured to help reward an extractive process is currently steered to favor the rich world. And that cannot help meet Africa’s needs. So we need to exercise African leadership by calling on our countries to shift to renewable energy and then cooperate with each other. We want to see a COP that benefits Africa by facilitating a green value chain, which is centered around the producing countries rather than those countries that are currently extracting and exporting [transition minerals] there.
Mongabay: How can real progress on energy transitions be made during COP30 negotiations?
Mohamed Adow: There’s a specific agenda item called the just transition work program, where this is going to be discussed, and we’re looking to see concrete and specific actions that can help us as a continent to ensure we deliver energy access, we deliver green industrialization, climate adaptation, and at the same time, create decent jobs for Africans. A just transition is also a development transition. If we’re going to help Africa manage that transition, we need a comprehensive strategy that allows us to attract sufficient support to be able to implement those actions.
And I don’t think we can do that anymore with voluntary contributions. We need to design an energy path based on Africa’s people’s needs, but also the kind that helps to advance Africa’s energy sovereignty. That requires clear policy priorities that are not just looking at climate, but are looking at how we deliver greater well-being and prosperity for our people.
We’re seeing a number of African countries getting rid of costly and polluting diesel generators. In Nigeria, for example, the savings from avoiding diesel fuel can repay the cost of a solar panel in just six months.
Solar panels are currently being imported across the continent, and they’re generating a good amount of energy. And this is not just about climate, it’s also about development. Solar power is bringing electricity to homes, schools and clinics, and is giving people control over their energy future.
Mongabay: The goal of keeping global warming below 1.5°C (2.7°F) is under threat. What does that mean for COP30 and for Africa?
Mohamed Adow: We’re seeing an escalating impact, whether it’s floods, droughts or loss of livelihoods that are driven by greenhouse gas emissions that we did not create.
I think we have all the resources; we have all the technology. What we are lacking currently is a political will to help us realize that important aspiration, and we must fight to secure it.
Banner image: Kirstenbosch national botanical gardens, South Africa. Image by Rhett Butler / Mongabay.
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