Iran War Drives Africa Toward Renewable Energy and China Model

 Foreign Affairs published on 27 July 2026 an article titled "Can Renewables Industrialize Africa? The Iran War Is Driving the Continent Toward Chinese-Backed Green Energy" by Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, a climate think tank in Kenya.

The war on Iran is accelerating a determination among African countries to reduce their dependence on imported fossil fuels and to turn toward renewable power.  As a result, African countries are now leaning toward the model advanced by China, in which abundant, low-cost electricity from renewables underpins industrialization and economic growth.

In the meantime, the United States is ceding a role in Africa's clean energy transition to China and risks losing diplomatic influence on the continent.  Washington has not grasped Africa's new energy reality. 

Namibian President Visits China: Focus on Critical Minerals and Manufacturing

 Pan African Television posted on 8 July 2026 an article titled "Namibia's President Visits China for Talks on Minerals, Green Hydrogen, and Manufacturing" by Victoria Wilson.

Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is on a state visit to China.  Her priority is attracting investment in minerals processing and downstream manufacturing.  Namibia aims to process 57 percent of its exported minerals locally by 2030.

Iran War Accelerates China's Strategy in Africa

 The Conversation published on 15 April 2026 a commentary titled "China's Africa Strategy Is Shifting and Iran Conflict Will Speed It Up" by Lauren Johnston.

China seeks to bring greater balance to China-Africa trade and industrialization by integrating China and Africa supply chains and economic development.  The war in Iran has shocked the global economy and its energy supply chains.  This is speeding up China's new approach to the Global South, which the author calls the Hunan model.  

Ethiopia Says It Attracted $13 Billion in Mostly Chinese Investment

Ethiopia's Institute of Foreign Affairs posted on 30 March 2026 an article titled "Ethiopia's Investment Surge and the Strategic Repositioning of Addis Ababa as Africa's Diplomatic-Economic Nexus" by Kena Seyife.  

The "Invest in Ethiopia 2026 Forum" attracted over 800 investors from more than 50 countries and secured over $13 billion in investment commitments.  China's Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd. committed to invest $10 billion in green ammonia and electrical equipment.  The article cautions that Ethiopia's success will depend on its ability to translate investments into tangible economic transformation. 

Comment: Ethiopia is facing several internal security challenges that must be addressed before this kind of investment actually materializes.  It will be important to monitor how many of these commitments valued at $13 billion result in completed projects.    

Africa Holds Renewable Energy Raw Materials But Can't Compete with China's Manufacturing

 The China Global South Project published on 15 October 2025 an article titled "China's Manufacturing Might Keep Africa Tied to Its Solar Supply Chain" by Njenga Hakeenah.  

Africa holds the raw materials needed to produce renewable energy products but lacks the scale and efficiency to compete with China in the manufacture of these products.  Efforts to do so by companies in South Africa and Nigeria failed.  African economies might be able to compete in the assembly of specialized products.  

China-EU Competition in Africa

 Courthouse News Service published on 9 October 2025 an article titled "EU Woos Mineral-rich Africa as China Tightens Resource Grip" by Yuval Molina Obedman.  

The European Union pledged $440 Billion through 2027 in infrastructure investment in Africa as it competes for influence with China. The EU program emphasizes private sector investment and blended finance using grants, loans, and guarantees.  

China's Role in Africa's Energy Development

 The China-Global South Project published in July 2025 a major report titled "Powering Africa: China's Expanding Role in the Continent's Energy Future" by Frangton Chiyemura.

From 2020 to 2024, Chinese financing delivered over 32 gigawatts of power generation capacity to 30 African countries.  At the same time, several projects face delays or dormancy due to technical, financial, or political challenges.  

China. Africa, and the Environment

 Global Voices posted on 7 September 2025 a commentary titled "How Is Africa Benefiting from China's Global Renewable Push?" by Jean Sovon and Vivian Wu.

China positions itself as a champion for renewable energy in Africa while financing large projects that exploit coal and oil.  The authors ask how African countries can reconcile a partnership aimed at implementing the principles of environmental justice.  

Solar Power and Environmental Peacebuilding in Somalia

 The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published in February 2025 a policy brief titled "Solar Power and Environmental Peacebuilding in South-Central Somalia" by Ann-Sophie Bohle and Kheira Tarif.  

The policy brief explores how the International Organization for Migration's approach to solar power and the facilitation of local public-private partnerships can support environmental peacebuilding at three levels: the community level, the local business level, and the district council level.  

Future of China's Renewable Energy Projects in Africa

 The Wilson Center's Africa Up Close blog posted on 22 November 2024 a commentary titled "Lights On or Off? Chinese Solar and Wind Companies in Sub-Saharan Africa" by Xiaokang Xue, Brown University.

China;s experience and overcapacity in wind and solar energy should make it a good fit for investing in projects in Africa.  But market hurdles, financing gaps, and shifting investment models create a more complicated picture.  China's new "small yet beautiful" investment model may result in innovative financing methods.

China-Africa Science and Technology Collaboration

 Springer published in 2024 an open access book titled "China-Africa Science, Technology and Innovation Collaboration" edited by Mammo Muchie, Angathevar Baskaran, and Mingfeng Tang.

The book is based on papers presented at a conference with the same title sponsored by the Chinese embassy in South Africa.  About half of the authors are Chinese.  The preface comments that "Africa must also learn from the great success China has achieved.  There is a lesson Africa must learn how China managed to deal with and respond to external powers." 

The chapters cover the following sectors:

--China-Africa Collaboration to Higher Education.

--China-Africa Research Collaboration and Training.

--China-Africa Collaboration in Agriculture, Food Security and Environmental Management.

--China-Africa Collaboration in Telecommunications and Space.

--Evolution of China-Africa Collaboration in Science, Technology and Innovation.

--China-Africa Collaboration in Digital Technologies.

--China-Africa Collaboration in Finance and Renewable Energy.

--China-Africa Collaboration in Health Sector.

--China-Africa Collaboration in Manufacturing.

China's Focus on African Minerals for Renewable Energy Production

 The Conversation published on 2 September 2024 a commentary titled "China's Interests in Africa Are being Shaped by the Race for Renewable Energy" by Lauren Johnston, University of Sydney.

The race for green energy is leading to a rush for cobalt, copper, and lithium by China, the United States, and Europe in countries like Guinea, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the DRC.  

China, Africa, and Renewable Energy

 South Africa's Standard Bank published on 20 August 2024 a report titled "China's Renewable Energy Interest in Africa" by Jeremy Stevens and Simon Fremantle.  

The report argues that renewable energy could become a more important component in China-Africa relations if it takes into account the development priorities of African countries.

South Sudan: Renewable Energy for Peace

 The Stimson Center published in February 2023 a report titled "Renewable Energy & the United Nations: A Green Spark for Peace in South Sudan" by Eugene Chen, Flora McCrone, and David Mozersky.

The report looks at electricity access (7 percent of South Sudan's population) in relationship to South Sudan's conflict, which is exacerbated by an oil economy, and the options to harness renewable energy as a tool for peace and development.  

China's Loans to Africa's Energy Sector

 Boston University's Global Development Policy Center posted on 17 November 2022 a study titled "Towards a Solutions-Oriented Approach: China, Africa and Energy Transition Narrative Building" by Maureen Heydt.  

China's policy bank loans in Africa have generally supported fossil energy, although hydropower makes up a significant portion of China's lending to African energy projects.  

How Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Will Impact Africa's Energy Transition

 The Council on Foreign Relations blog posted on 22 April 2022 an analysis titled "How Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Will Impact Africa's Energy Transition" by Katie Auth and Todd Moss, both at the Energy for Growth Hub.  

The authors reached 7 conclusions:

(1) African leaders will increasingly frame energy poverty as an energy security issue deserving the same urgency.

(2) The rush to boost LNG supply to Europe will stoke further African frustration with climate hypocrisy--unless development finance follows through.

(3) Rising oil and gas prices will hurt African electricity markets.

(4) But rising interest rates will also create headwinds for renewable projects.

(5) The need to diversify away from Russia will reinvigorate interest in African oil and gas production for export.

(6) As the urgency behind decarbonization intensifies, demand for critical minerals will spur investment in African mining.

(7) Russian actions (and Western financial sanctions) could give countries pause about betting on Russian nuclear technology.  

Franco-Chinese East African Oil Pipeline under Environmentalist Attack

 The New York Times published on 8 April 2022 a commentary titled "This 900-Mile Crude Oil Pipeline Is a Bad Deal for My Country--and the World" by Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan climate justice activist.

The author offers the environmental arguments against the 900-mile East African Crude Oil Pipeline to be built by French and Chinese companies from Kabaale, Uganda to Tanga, Tanzania on the Indian Ocean coast.  Instead, the author argues that East Africans should focus on renewable energy.  

China's Green Energy Investment in Africa

 The Institute of Development Studies, The African Climate Foundation, and The Open University published in November 2021 a study titled "Scaling China's Green Energy Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Prospects" by Frangton Chiyemura, Wei Shen, and Yushi Chen.

The report investigates the barriers and potential solutions to scaling China's engagement with Sub-Saharan Africa's non-hydro renewable energy market.  The study found that scaling of Chinese wind and solar energy projects in the region is constrained by a number of institutional, material, and discursive factors.  Chinese involvement in African countries' renewable energy sector has much to do with concerns about the host country's macroeconomic performance, as well as the political climate, particularly when a sovereign guarantee is absent. 

China's Investments in Renewable Energy in Africa

 The most recent issue of World Development contains an open access study titled "China's Investments in Renewable Energy in Africa: Creating Co-benefits or Just Cashing In?" by Rasmus Lema, Padmasai Lakshmi Bhamidipati, Cecilia Gregersen, Ulrich Elmer Hansen, and Julian Kirchherr.  

The purpose of the study is to determine to what extent economic co-benefits are created when renewable-energy projects are developed by Chinese investors in Africa.  The authors identify some newly created jobs, linkages generated with actors in local systems of production and training activities involving local staff, but the extent of these benefits is very limited.  Overall, the results suggest that policymakers should be wary of overly optimistic expectations when it comes to assessing the co-benefits of renewable energy projects in the context of scarce pre-existing capabilities.  

China Seeks Carbon Neutral Environment at Home But Pushes Dirty Coal Plants in Africa

 CNN Business posted on 10 December 2020 a story titled "Activists Are Fighting for a Renewable Future in Sub-Saharan Africa. Chinese Coal Projects Threaten to Dirty Those Plans" by Eoin McSweeney.

Chinese companies continue to push the construction of coal power plants in Africa despite objections from environmentalists and Xi Jinping's call early this year for green development and carbon neutrality in China by 2060.  African governments have been eager to move forward with cheap, dirty energy projects that only Chinese banks will finance.