Making Africa’s Energy Transition Work: Local Manufacturing, Decent Work, and Sustainable Livelihoods
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On 8 and 9 October 2026, researchers, trade unionists, policymakers, manufacturers, small and medium enterprises, and civil society organisations from across Africa will meet in Johannesburg to examine how the continent’s energy transition can support local manufacturing, decent work, and sustainable livelihoods.
The conference, Making Africa’s Energy Transition Work: Local Manufacturing, Decent Work, and Sustainable Livelihoods , will present and discuss research undertaken in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa as part of the Just Energy Transition: Localisation, Decent Work, SMEs, and Sustainable Livelihoods
Event details
Dates: Thursday, 8 October–Friday, 9 October 2026Venue: Southern Sun Rosebank, corner of Tyrwhitt and Sturdee avenues, Rosebank, JohannesburgRegistration: From 08:00 on Thursday, 8 OctoberConference times: 09:00–17:00 on Thursday and 09:00–16:00 on FridayFormat: In person, with plenary sessions available online
Join the conference virtually
Unable to attend in person? Join the conference’s plenary sessions online and follow discussions on renewable energy localisation, decent work, and sustainable livelihoods across Africa. Advance registration is required to receive the Zoom access details.
Africa’s energy transition could expand access to sustainable energy while supporting industrial development, employment creation, and more resilient local economies. These outcomes will not, however, emerge automatically from increased investment in renewable energy.
Without deliberate intervention, African countries may continue to export raw materials and import high-value technologies, while much of the manufacturing value, productive capacity, and profit associated with the transition is retained elsewhere.
The conference will examine what is required to build more just and developmental renewable energy value chains. It will bring together researchers, trade unionists, manufacturers, small and medium enterprises, community representatives, policymakers, and experts from Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and beyond.
The first day will open with a trade union roundtable on the role of organised labour in advancing renewable energy localisation. This will be followed by country case studies examining renewable energy manufacturing and productive capabilities in Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana. The day will conclude with a discussion on how organised labour and industry can work together to advance a transformative green industrial agenda.
The second day will consider the challenges of coordinating energy, industrial, trade, and environmental policy across the state; lessons from China’s emergence as a major renewable energy manufacturing power; and advocacy and organising strategies for advancing green industrial policy.
Across the two days, participants will consider:
the role of organised labour in promoting renewable energy localisation;
opportunities to build local and regional manufacturing capabilities;
the barriers confronting local enterprises entering renewable energy value chains;
whether localisation can create decent work and advance gender equity;
how African countries can retain more of the value generated by their growing renewable energy markets;
coordination between energy, industrial, trade, and environmental policy;
cooperation between organised labour and domestic industry; and
lessons from international energy and industrial transitions.
For more on the thinking behind the conference, read the concept note outlining the project’s background, purpose, scope, and objectives.
READ THE CONFERENCE CONCEPT NOTE
The conference forms part of the Just Energy Transition: Localisation, Decent Work, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Sustainable Livelihoods project.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT
The project is undertaken by the Institute for Economic Justice, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the African Centre for Technology Studies, the African Centre for Energy Policy, A Rocha Ghana, and World Energy Council: Future Energy Leaders Ghana, with funding from the International Development Research Centre.
Information for registered participants
Registered participants can consult the logistics advisory note for information on registration, travel and accommodation arrangements, meals and dietary requirements, local transport, safety, and conference contacts.
