While global renewable energy installations reached record levels in 2024, Africa remains largely sidelined in the jobs dividend of the energy transition, exposing a growing imbalance between where clean energy is deployed and where its economic benefits are realised.

This is a finding of the Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2025, published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Globally, renewable energy employment rose by just 2.3 per cent in 2024 to 16.6 million jobs, a modest increase that masks deeper regional disparities.

Nowhere is this imbalance more pronounced than in Africa, which continues to account for only a marginal share of global renewable energy jobs despite its vast resource potential and growing energy demand.

The report highlights how geopolitical tensions, supply-chain concentration and automation are reinforcing existing inequalities.
China alone generated 7.3 million renewable energy jobs, or 44 per cent of the global total, driven by its dominance in equipment manufacturing.

By contrast, Africa remains largely an importer of renewable technologies, limiting its participation in higher-value segments of the supply chain where most jobs are created.

Although renewable deployment across Africa has accelerated in recent years, particularly in solar and off-grid solutions, this growth has not translated into large-scale employment.

The bulk of jobs associated with solar photovoltaics, the world’s largest renewable employer with 7.3 million workers, are concentrated in Asia, which hosts 75 per cent of PV employment.

African countries, lacking domestic manufacturing capacity, primarily generate short-term installation and maintenance jobs, which are less stable and lower paid.

This pattern reveals a critical structural challenge where Africa’s energy transition is being shaped more as a consumption market than a production hub.

Without deliberate industrial policy, the continent risks repeating a familiar development trajectory, exporting raw materials, importing finished technologies, and capturing minimal domestic value.

The situation is further compounded by financing constraints and weak industrial ecosystems. High capital costs, limited access to concessional finance and underdeveloped skills pipelines continue to deter large-scale manufacturing investments.

While countries such as South Africa, Morocco and Egypt have made strides in renewable deployment, the report suggests that employment gains remain modest and uneven, often vulnerable to policy reversals and currency volatility.

Africa’s marginal position also raises concerns about the social legitimacy of the energy transition. With millions of young people entering the labour market annually, the continent faces mounting pressure to deliver job-rich growth. Yet the global transition, as currently structured, is generating employment primarily in countries that already dominate manufacturing and trade.

The report also flags inclusion challenges that resonate strongly in African labour markets. Women and people with disabilities remain under-represented in renewable energy jobs, reflecting broader structural barriers such as limited access to training, informal employment and discriminatory norms.

For Africa, the findings reinforce a central policy dilemma: achieving universal energy access while securing meaningful economic participation in the global energy transition. Without stronger international cooperation, technology transfer , and targeted industrial strategies, Africa risks powering the world’s clean energy future without sharing in its jobs, skills, and long-term prosperity.