While Africa is yet to find its path in the geopolitical landscape of renewable energy, China dominates the sector as jobs in the industry reached 13.7 million in 2022.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in the latest edition of ‘Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2023’, released on Thursday said most of the jobs are concentrated in a few states, notably China, which accounts for 41 per cent of the global figure.

Apart from Oceania with 80,000, Africa has the lowest number of jobs in the sector with 320, 000 in total.

The report found that renewable energy is attracting increasing investment, leading to job creation in a growing number of countries, IRENA said in a release, adding that Brazil, European Union (EU) countries, India and the United States are leading contributors.

“Together they represent the majority of global capacity installations and play key roles in the manufacturing of equipment, engineering and associated services,” it noted.

Solar photovoltaics (PV) was once again the largest employer in 2022, accounting for 4.9 million jobs, more than a third of the total workforce in the renewable energy sector.

Hydropower and biofuels had similar numbers of jobs in 2021, around 2.5 million each, followed by wind power with 1.4 million jobs.

IRENA Director-General, Francesco La Camera, said 2022 was an outstanding year for renewable energy jobs, amid multiplying challenges.

According to him, creating many more millions of jobs would require a much faster pace of investments in energy transition technologies.

“Earlier this month, the G20 leaders agreed to accelerate efforts to triple global renewables capacity by 2030 aligned with our recommendations ahead of COP28. I call on all policymakers to use this momentum as an opportunity to adopt ambitious policies that drive the needed systemic change,” La Camera said.

ILO Director-General, Gilbert Houngbo, said: “To seize the significant opportunities to attain full, productive and freely chosen employment, social inclusion and decent work for all during these complex transitions, there is a need to develop and implement specific policies for inclusive macroeconomic growth, sustainable enterprises, skills development, other active labour market interventions, social protection, occupational safety and health and other rights at work and find new solutions through social dialogue.”