Africa Is Footing The Bill For The North's Energy Transition

Africa will foot the bill for the Global North’s energy transition, say societal collectives, who say the current system for extracting so-called critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, nickel or zinc is seen as key to that transition comes primarily from companies and countries in the developed world while triggering negative ecological impacts that will only increase in the coming decades. “If we don’t change the way the industry’s profits are distributed, Africa will get the crumbs of these minerals and remain in poverty,” said Brice Mackosso, a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which met this week met in Dakar.

Lake Nzilo in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a popular recreational and fishing spot for Kolwezi residents. However, according to researcher Zélie Pelletier Hochart of the NGO Global Witness, its waters have increasing concentrations of arsenic and other harmful chemicals due to its proximity to several cobalt mines. The communities near these mines are more likely to suffer from cirrhosis of the liver, miscarriages, congenital deformities and cancer among other diseases, and despite living so close to the riches mined, they remain in misery. In her 2021 dissertation The Dark Side of The Energetic Transition: Cobalt Mining, Hochart states, “The poverty that drives households into mining is exacerbated by the very industries that fail to create wealth locally. “

The World Bank estimates that demand for critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and zinc will increase by 500% by 2050

According to the United Nations, the Democratic Republic of the Congo exports about 70% of the world’s cobalt. Along with copper, lithium, zinc, manganese, nickel and chromium, it belongs to the family of so-called critical minerals, which are vital in the construction of electric cars, wind turbines, solar panels and batteries. In other words, they form the material basis of the so-called energy transition that will enable the world to move away from fossil fuels and towards other, more sustainable energy sources, thereby slowing global warming. These minerals are not particularly common and most of their deposits are found in Africa, Latin America, Australia and Southeast Asia. However, the World Bank estimates that demand will increase by 500% by 2050.

“Most of these minerals are found on land owned by indigenous communities who depend on it for their survival,” says Solange Bandiaky-Badji, director of the Rights and Resources Group (RRG). “The extractive activity has huge negative impacts, such as water pollution and deforestation. The Congo River Valley is the world’s second lung after the Amazon and we are seeing increasing numbers of investors from China, the Gulf States, South Africa and India being attracted to mining. There is an urgent need to put in place clear mechanisms that set environmental boundaries for this industry and ensure that benefits are shared equitably and that local communities’ choices are respected.”

To move forward in this direction, representatives from more than 50 countries, almost all from the Global South, met this week in Dakar as part of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), with notably absent many European powers as well as economic giants such as the US and China. The EITI is a global initiative, launched in 2003, that brings together governments, businesses and civil society to advocate for financial transparency and performance records for the global extractive industries. “We have adopted a new standard that further emphasizes the need to report on environmental impacts and make the data available to the public,” said Vanessa Cueto La Rosa, Latin American civil society representative at the EITI. “But we also want to see the benefits impact women, who are often the hardest hit by this industry.”

In the Republic of the Congo, only 27% of oil profits remain in the country, with the rest going abroad, mostly to extractive companies.”
Brice Mackosso, Member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)

The EITI Standard 2023, approved this week in Dakar, establishes transparency requirements to address anti-corruption, gender, social and environmental issues, revenue collection and energy transition. However, the question is whether companies and governments provide all the necessary information and respect the agreements. “We have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go,” said Diana Kaissy from Lebanon, EITI Representative for the Middle East and North Africa. According to Bandiaky-Badji, more vigorous measures should be taken, including sanctions. “All over the world, environmental activists are being killed, especially in Brazil and Colombia, and that’s unacceptable,” she says. “Environmental crimes must be prosecuted.”

As recognized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), “the minerals underlying the clean energy transition have social and environmental costs and, paradoxically, their own carbon footprint from extraction to final use.” The Kolwezi cobalt mines, for example use diesel engines for much of the process. Mining areas are almost always located in remote, environmentally sensitive areas, and the risk of deforestation, population displacement and discharges into ecosystems is very high.”

“It has a huge environmental cost, but the worst thing is how little it brings back to Africa,” says Mackosso. “Before we ramp up production of critical minerals, we need to change the model. After a study conducted in the Republic of Congo, we found that only 27% of oil profits remain in the country. The rest goes abroad and mainly to resource companies. Will we go on like this and allow others to take our wealth? That’s the big question. And finally: What energy transition will we have in Africa if 60% of the population now has no access to electricity? Ultimately, we will have very little regard for the environmental law that allows others to switch to a greener model. I do not get it.”