Manufacture Urged to Install Renewable-energy Technologies for New Jobs

Emma Okonji

The Managing Director, Project Management Institute (PMI), sub-Saharan Africa, George Asamani, has urged African governments, Nigeria inclusive, to invest in the manufacturing and installation of renewable-energy technologies in order to tap into the 30 million new clean-energy roles that will emerge by 2030.

According to him, with 600 million people still lacking access to electricity and coal that provides cheap and reliable energy, the continent faces a significant paradox, insisting that the green transition is critical to global climate goals, even though it could come at a substantial cost for Africa.

The International Energy Agency warns that under net-zero pathways, about 13 million fossil-fuel jobs could disappear globally even as 30 million new clean-energy roles emerge by 2030. The catch is that most of those new jobs will be created in countries that already manufacture and install renewable-energy technologies.

Asamani therefore explained that in Africa where local production and technical training remained limited, job losses could easily outpace early gains.

“Nowhere is this tension clearer than in South Africa, where around 100,000 coal miners and power-plant workers could face redundancy as coal is phased out. Many are semi-skilled, with years of technical and operational experience that aren’t automatically transferable to renewable-energy projects. For these workers, reskilling, not rhetoric, will determine whether the green transition is truly just,” Asamani said.