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Fostering Industrial Hubs for Energy-Transition Technologies in Africa: A G20 Action Plan

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Industrial Hubs
Download FOSTERING INDUSTRIAL HUBS FOR ENERGY TRANSITION TECHNOLOGIES IN AFRICA

Africa is presented with a significant opportunity. With accelerating demand for renewable energy and clean technologies, the continent has the opportunity not merely to consume, but to produce and lead through the development of local value chains and industrial hubs for energy transition technologies.

The continent holds around 30 percent of the world’s reserves of key transition minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel, essential for the production of key technologies, including solar PV modules, batteries, and electric vehicles. Several countries are also emerging as a vibrant ecosystem for manufacturing of such technologies led by local firms with ambitions to deepen value chains. By aligning investments, technology transfer, infrastructure, and regional and international trade frameworks, these hubs can deliver jobs, inclusive growth, and supply chain resilience while helping Africa move up the value chain.

This report, which is developed under SEforALL’s Green Industrialization Hub, proposes areas in which G20 action could advance efforts to develop industrialization hubs for energy-transition technologies in Africa.

Key Highlights

12 bn

Value of solar PV modules, batteries, and EVs imported into Africa (2022–2024, UN Comtrade)

30%

Global share of critical mineral reserves located in Africa (UNECA 2024)

27 bn

Solar PV market opportunity (2025–2030)

140,000

Annual jobs in Solar PV assembly, 2024-2050 (UNCTAD 2025a)

Why This Matters

  • Industrialization, energy transition and climate action must go hand in hand. Diversifying supply chains can ensure that the benefits of the energy transition are more equitably distributed.
  • 83 percent of African countries are commodity-dependent, with export earnings relying on primary commodities (UNCTAD, 2022).
  • Between 2022 and 2024, Africa imported over USD 12 billion in solar PV modules, lithium-ion batteries, and assembled electric vehicles (UN Comtrade Database).
  • Under current ambitions, Sub-Saharan Africa’s renewables capacity could triple to 165 GW by 2030, including nearly 40 GW of solar PV, representing a USD 27 billion market opportunity between 2025 and 2030.
  • Between 2024 and 2050, solar PV assembly in Africa could generate around 140,000 jobs annually, underscoring its potential as a key driver of green industrialization. (UNCTAD, 2025a)

Key Levers for Building Industrial Hubs

Advancing industrial hubs for energy-transition technologies requires action across three core domains:

  1. Industrial Policy Framework — comprehensive green industrialization roadmaps; demand- and supply-side incentives; trade and R&D policies; regulatory environment; skills development; and investment mobilization.
  2. Infrastructure and Industrial Hubs — reliable energy supply, transport and logistics corridors, and green special economic zones.
  3. Partnerships — coordination across government, regional bodies, and international platforms like the G20 to foster investment mobilization and technology exchange, and strengthen market creation efforts.

Proposed G20 Actions for Advancing Energy Transition Technology Industrialization Hubs in Africa​

  • Recognize the importance of reconciling energy-transition and industrialization goals for developing economies building on successive G20 Presidencies.
  • Develop a G20 roadmap for financing green industrialization in Africa to catalyze concessional financing and innovative blended-finance structures for governments, enterprises and projects along the value chain.
  • Establish a G20 Partnerships for Green Industrialization in Africa Platform to facilitate strategic collaboration and exchange between G20 countries on industrial policy, investment facilitation and trade and skills development.​
  • Strengthen the voice of reforms in international trade, finance and technology access norms to provide developing countries the green policy space to industrialize.​
  • Bolster support for intra-African integration and trade and partnership with G20, including leveraging engagement with the African Union and implementation of AfCFTA.​

The report is designed for governments, development partners, investors, and regional institutions seeking to advance inclusive industrialization. It serves as a policy tool for aligning G20 support with Africa’s green growth and job-creation priorities. This publication is produced by Sustainable Energy for All under the Green Industrialization Hub workstream, to advance Africa’s clean-energy and industrialization agenda.