ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Mar 07 (IPS) – African international locations ought to be a part of arms to benefit from their very own assets and construct a formidable electrical automobile ecosystem that would assist fast-track realisation of SDGs.
Africa has each the chance and the crucial to harness its huge assets for sustainable improvement.
With the assist from the United Nations Financial Fee for Africa (ECA) and different African establishments, the area can leverage electrical automobiles (EVs) to fast-track the achievement of the Sustainable Growth Targets (SDGs) and pre-empt the danger of yet one more useful resource curse.
In December 2024, ECA organised a capacity-building workshop on the event of regional worth chains for electrical mobility in DRC, Morocco, and Zambia, and a high-level coverage dialogue on the event of automotive regional worth chains and e-mobility in Lusaka, Zambia. The occasions attracted members from the three international locations and others within the area.
A key end result of the workshop was a name to expedite the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the three international locations in 2025, and the inclusion of Morocco within the Zambia-DRC Particular Financial Zone–a big step towards strengthening Africa’s e-mobility worth chains.
Such collaboration would allow Zambia and DRC to construct refining capability and diversify past exporting uncooked mineral, creating increased added worth, elevated tax revenues, and talent transfers.
In the meantime, Morocco, aiming to supply as much as 100,000 electrical automobiles in 2025 and set up battery factories, would achieve dependable entry to strategic minerals and place Africa as a significant EV producer able to serve even the European market.
Different African international locations, together with Benin, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa, have the ambition to scale up their capability in battery manufacturing and manufacturing of electrical buses, vehicles, motorbikes and tricycles to handle native demand for reasonably priced and greener transport.
With almost 30 per cent of the world’s reserves of minerals vital to the worldwide power transition akin to cobalt, lithium, and nickel—Africa is uniquely positioned to profit from the quickly rising international demand for EVs and different low-carbon applied sciences. In the case of cobalt, Africa produces over 50 per cent of world reserves and about 70 per cent of portions traded.
Nonetheless, regardless of over 20 African international locations holding key items of the e-mobility puzzle, no nation can thrive in isolation. Infrastructure gaps —notably in electrical energy technology, storage, and charging networks —stay a problem.
Nonetheless, African shoppers are already embracing smaller EVs that provide quicker returns on funding and versatile charging. This lays down a powerful basis for broader EV adoption.
By strategic collaboration, African international locations can navigate international competitors, stabilize markets, stop useful resource exploitation and instability, and make sure the continent reaps the total advantages of its pure wealth.
A robust and coordinated African entrance on EVs would:
- Scale back publicity to international worth volatility
- Drive financial diversification and job creation
- Allow productive migration
- Assist cleaner, safer, and extra reasonably priced mobility; and
- Catalyse and speed up progress in electrical energy entry and infrastructure improvement
All this aligns with quite a few SDGs —particularly 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 — and not directly helps foster peace and safety, in addition to improvement throughout the continent.
Regardless of their various improvement phases and paces, African international locations ought to work collectively to succeed in their full potential, or threat being on the mercy of exterior pressures and more and more aggressive international competitors.
With out unity, Africa’s huge mineral wealth might turn into a supply of political instability relatively than financial progress.
This transition will not be reserved for just a few, “fortunate” international locations. ECA, in partnership with the African Union Fee (AUC), the African Growth Financial institution (AfDB), and Afreximbank, stands able to do the next:
- Assist nationwide and regional coordination by enhancing negotiation capability
- Assist develop norms and requirements
- Facilitate skill-building and innovation; and
- Create fairer entry to finance
The time for motion is now. African international locations should reveal unwavering dedication and political will by coordinating insurance policies, facilitating commerce, enhancing negotiation capability, establishing sturdy norms, fostering expertise and innovation, and creating equitable entry to finance.
These are vital steps wanted to show this ambition into actuality.
Adam Elhiraika is the Director for North Africa on the UN Financial Fee for Africa (ECA).
Supply: Africa Renewal, United Nations
IPS UN Bureau
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