Green energy must deliver jobs, fair wages, social protection — ITUC-Africa

For three days, the heart of Africa’s trade union movement was in Nairobi, Kenya, as workers’ representatives from across the continent, alongside international partners and other stakeholders, gathered to confront one of the defining questions of Africa’s future: how can the continent achieve a green energy transition without leaving workers and communities behind?

The Second New Energy for Africa Convening, organised by the International Trade Union Confederation-Africa, ITUC-Africa, brought together participants from trade unions affiliated with the continental labour body, as well as international partners and other actors in the energy and climate space.

From the deliberations came a clear and recurring message: Africa’s transition to clean energy must be more than a shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

It must become a pathway to industrialisation, decent jobs, fair wages, social protection and affordable electricity for millions of Africans still excluded from reliable energy access.

With more than 600 million people across the continent still without electricity, participants argued that Africa cannot afford to treat the energy transition merely as a climate obligation.

It must also be seen as a major development opportunity—one capable of transforming economies, creating jobs, strengthening local industries and improving the quality of life of ordinary Africans.

But the gathering also carried a warning.

Without deliberate policies and the active participation of workers, Africa risks reproducing old inequalities under a new green label—exporting critical minerals, attracting investments and generating clean energy while workers remain trapped in precarious employment and communities continue to struggle with poverty.

For ITUC-Africa, that cannot be the meaning of a just transition.

The labour movement insists that Africa’s green transformation must put people at its centre, ensuring that new energy investments translate into decent employment, fair remuneration, social protection and affordable power, while giving African countries greater control over their resources and development choices.

SOURCE:GOOGLE NEWS