Why Nigeria must seize multi-trillion-dollar renewable opportunities

As the global energy transition accelerates, Africa, especially Nigeria, stands at a pivotal crossroads. The continent, long known for its wealth of natural resources, now has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to convert that endowment into economic power, by building local industries for renewable energy and clean technologies.

A new report by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), “Fostering Industrial Hubs for Energy Transition Technologies in Africa”, highlights how Africa can harness this global shift to achieve inclusive industrialisation, job creation, and sustainable growth.

Drawing on lessons from G20 nations, the report outlined a roadmap for building energy-transition industrial hubs that can transform the continent’s economic landscape.

For Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy, the report signals both urgency and opportunity. With deliberate policy action, the country can transform from an importer of energy technologies into a regional producer, capturing value, creating jobs, and positioning itself at the heart of Africa’s clean energy future.

“Climate action and industrialisation must go hand in hand”

The SEforALL report situates Africa’s green industrialisation within a global context of shifting trade and technology. It noted that in 2024, G20 countries traded over $420 billion worth of solar modules, batteries, and electric vehicles, representing nearly 75 percent of global trade in these technologies.

However, the report warned that supply chains for these technologies remain highly concentrated. Over 90 percent of G20 imports of cobalt ores and concentrates came from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023, while 61 percent of graphite was sourced from China and 82 percent of lithium from Australia.

“The message is increasingly loud and clear,” the report stated. “Climate action and industrialisation must go hand in hand, requiring stronger collaboration to ensure that supply chains are diversified and benefits more equitably distributed.”

For Africa, this linkage between energy transition and industrialisation is both a challenge and an opening. As global powers seek to secure raw materials and manufacturing capacity, the continent can move beyond the “pit-to-port paradigm” of extraction to build industries that add value locally.

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A $27 Billion Market Opportunity

According to SEforALL, Africa’s renewable energy ambitions already point to an emerging market of significant scale. “For Sub-Saharan Africa, total renewables capacity in the power sector is expected to triple to 165 GW by 2030, with nearly 40 GW of solar PV,” the report says.

This expansion represents “a $27 billion market opportunity in the solar PV sector alone between 2025 and 2030, including modules and balance of system components.” Demand for lithium-based batteries is also forecast to reach 10 GWh by 2030, generating a market opportunity of $10–15 billion annually.

The report observes that Africa imported more than $12 billion in finished energy-transition products between 2022 and 2024 — with South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya among the largest importers. “If current trends continue and domestic manufacturing capacities remain underdeveloped, import costs will escalate,” it warned.

SEforALL argued that this rising demand, coupled with strong resource endowments, creates a foundation for local manufacturing. “Strategically investing in tailored localisation strategies for energy-transition technologies is not only a socioeconomic opportunity, it is also a future-proofing strategy,” it concluded.

Building hubs for green manufacturing

The report called for the creation of industrialisation hubs for energy-transition technologies, combining national action with regional and international collaboration. It identifies three key domains of focus: industrial policy, infrastructure, and partnerships.

“Advancing industrialisation hubs in Africa for energy-transition technologies requires a coordinated, whole-of-government strategy,” it said. Such an approach should align ministries of trade, investment, mining, energy, and skills development around a shared industrial mission.

Citing South Africa’s new Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM), the report describes a model Nigeria could adapt. “SAREM exemplifies a comprehensive industrial policy framework aimed at localising renewable energy value chains, fostering inclusive economic growth, and facilitating a just energy transition,” the document explains.

Between 2014 and 2024, South Africa imported over R180 billion (about $10 billion) worth of renewable energy materials. “SAREM aims to address this by promoting the establishment of industrial hubs and Special Economic Zones focused on renewable energy,” the report noted. By 2030, the plan targets an addition of 5 GW per year of renewable capacity and over 25,000 jobs.

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For Nigeria, a similar roadmap could be developed under its Energy Transition Plan to link domestic renewable targets with local production of solar modules, inverters, and battery storage systems.

“The manufacturing sector is critical for employment generation”

SEforALL underscores that industrialisation is key to inclusive development. “The manufacturing sector is particularly critical for employment generation, as well as economic transformation,” it says. Yet manufacturing value added in Sub-Saharan Africa has stagnated at about 11 percent of GDP for two decades.

By 2030, “half of all new entrants into the global labour force will come from Sub-Saharan Africa, requiring the creation of up to 15 million new jobs annually,” the report observes. Green manufacturing could absorb much of this workforce.

The employment potential of renewable manufacturing is especially strong in solar energy. SEforALL estimates nearly 4 million person-years of labour in solar PV manufacturing between 2024 and 2050 — equivalent to 146,000 full-time jobs annually.

It concluded: “Renewables manufacturing can support job creation objectives with over 146,000 jobs annually in solar PV assembly alone.”

Trade integration and value chain development

The SEforALL report highlights trade policy as a cornerstone of Africa’s green industrialisation. “Clean energy supply chains are deeply trade-dependent,” it notes. Strategic trade measures — including calibrated tariffs, regional trade integration, and investment incentives — can unlock domestic manufacturing potential.

The report calls for deeper implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to build regional value chains. “Africa needs both regional and intercontinental trade agreements to build market linkages for intermediate and finished goods,” it stressed.

Intra-African merchandise trade currently accounts for just 13.7 percent of total trade, compared to 22 percent in ASEAN and 58 percent in the European Union. According to SEforALL, “Every 10 percent increase in regional trade in intermediary products correlates with a nearly 4 percent increase in manufacturing employment.”

The report also underscores the need to reconcile global trade rules with the industrialisation goals of developing countries. “There is an urgent need to promote dialogue on reconciling international trade regulations with climate action, particularly in the context of industrialisation goals of developing countries,” it said.

Technology and research gaps

Access to clean technology and innovation capacity remains one of Africa’s biggest obstacles. SEforALL points out that G20 countries owned about 91 percent of all patents in environmental technologies filed between 2000 and 2021, with China, Japan, the United States, Korea, and Germany accounting for the bulk.

“The development of industrialisation hubs for minerals beneficiation and clean energy manufacturing requires access to technology, skilled labour, and innovation ecosystems,” the report stated.

It urges stronger North–South and South–South collaboration to bridge this technology gap. “The G20 could serve as a key forum to facilitate partnerships and engagement to address key barriers and strengthen technology access and local innovation systems in developing countries,” it added.

Skills and workforce development

The report emphasises that building green industries also requires human capital. “For the energy transition to contribute to employment in Africa, the workforce needs to be trained with adequate technical and non-technical skills and be ready to take the occupations that will be required,” it said.

It calls for targeted interventions in curriculum updates, industry–academia partnerships, and regional skills certification frameworks. “Governments play a pivotal role in creating an enabling environment for skills development,” SEforALL noted, adding that public funding for vocational training and workforce inclusion will be crucial.

A call to action

The SEforALL report concludes with a clear appeal: Africa must act now to align industrial policy, investment, and regional cooperation if it is to capture the economic gains of the clean energy transition.

“The opportunity for African countries to build domestic value chains for energy-transition technologies depends on several factors, including resource endowment, existing production capacities, soft and hard infrastructure, and an enabling policy and regulatory environment,” it stated.