Скачать или смотреть Driving Africa’s Green Transition - Investment Strategies from the EU, China, and the Gulf countries

Date: 18 September 2025
Format: Online Webinar
Time: 14:00 - 15:30 (GMT +2)
Language: English
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This 1.5-hour event will bring together a diverse group of experts and stakeholders from Africa, Europe, China, and the Gulf region for a constructive dialogue by:
1. Discussing the findings of APRI’s Track II Diplomacy project;
2. Providing input on APRI’s mapping;
3. Offering insights into how the EU, China, and GCC countries are shaping Africa’s green transition;
4. Exploring how African countries can better engage with and benefit from these climate investments.

The structure of the webinar will be as follows:
14:00 - 14:15 Welcome remark and presentation of the mapping (APRI)
14:15- 14:55 Roundtable with 4 speakers and one moderator
14:55 - 15:25 Q &A session
15:25 - 15:30 Wrap up and closing
Moderator
Luc Tezenas, Senior Policy Coordinator, Resource Justice Network
Speakers
● Dr. Amandine Gnanguênon, Senior Fellow and Head of Geopolitics Program, APRI
● Yunnan Chen, Research Fellow in ODI's Development and Public Finance programme.
● Dr. Muez Ali, Research and Policy Lead at Earthna: Center for a Sustainable Future at Qatar Foundation.
● Sarah Logan, Visiting Fellow in the Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
● Ebipere Clark, Visiting Fellow at Africa Policy Research Institute.
Background context
Africa's geopolitical significance is rapidly escalating, driven by its abundant natural resources and growing renewable energy potential. This strategic shift is reshaping the continent's global relationships and drawing increased attention from both major and emerging powers.
How Africa finances its energy transition is one of the most critical questions facing the continent and the world, especially given the limited fiscal space of many African countries. Public-private partnerships have been proposed to spur climate and energy investments, including the European Union (EU)'s Global Gateway, which is intended to support African countries. However, this support has yet to materialise in any meaningful way.
At the same time, major powers are competing for dominance in green technologies and the minerals that underpin them. Africa, rich in these critical resources, has become a key arena in this global competition. The number of green-labelled projects and minerals-related Memoranda of Understanding signed between major powers and African countries, particularly by China and the EU, has been rising steadily in recent years.
A similar trend is emerging among middle powers. Countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia have recently moved to secure access to Africa’s mineral wealth. Beyond minerals, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Gulf countries has also increased. In 2023 alone, Gulf-based companies announced 73 FDI projects worth over $53 billion, mostly in the renewable energy sector. Several hard deals and MoUs have also been signed with African governments by actors such as the UAE and Oman.
Bringing these diverse interests together in ways that serve Africa’s climate goals is essential. A better understanding of how these investments can be better coordinated and strengthen African engagement in this shifting landscape is needed.
The Track II Diplomacy, launched by APRI, is a one-year project funded by the Pool Fund on International Energy (PIE), hosted by the European Climate Foundation. The overarching aim is to draw lessons learnt from how China, and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, particularly Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and the EU, engage, individually or collectively, in climate finance and green manufacturing across the African continent, and to assess which partnerships are best positioned to hold a comparative advantage to support Africa’s green transition.
About the webinar
The webinar will mark the final stage of the Track II Diplomacy project by disseminating its key findings and officially launching APRI’s new interactive tool, Mapping Climate Diplomacy: Charting Africa’s Climate Financing Agreements.
This event aims to present and discuss the key drivers behind green development initiatives and investments targeting Africa’s renewable energy and green manufacturing potential. It will analyse how resources, geopolitical motivations, and foreign policy agendas from the EU, China, and GCC countries are shaping their engagement in Africa. The discussion will also assess which partnerships hold the greatest potential to support Africa’s green transition in a balanced and strategic way.