WBS hosts high-level Africa energy summit featuring UN and Government ministers

Senior representatives from the United Nations, the African Development Bank, the UK Foreign Office and environment ministers from across Africa will come together for a major policy conference co-organised by Warwick Business School.

The conference brings together policymakers as they look to accelerate Africa's renewable energy transition and make sure the continent’s economy benefits in equitable fashion.

Giuliana Battisti, Professor of the Economics of Innovation and Deputy Director of the Circular Economy Powered Renewable Energy Centre (CEPREC), is co-organising the Pan-African Policy Virtual Conference, Turning the Lights On: Unlocking Circular Value Chains for Africa's Renewable Energy Transition.

The conference, which is being convened with the African Circular Economy Alliance, will bring together senior figures from organisations including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Development Bank Group, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the World Resources Institute, and the Development Bank of South Africa, alongside government representatives from countries including Rwanda, South Africa, and Namibia.

Professor Battisti said: “The gathering comes at a critical moment for Africa's energy transition. Around 600 million Africans - slightly less than 50 per cent of the African population - currently live without access to electricity. This is a major concern as energy presents essential opportunities for improving living conditions, life expectancy and more generally to kick-start economic development, industrialisation and job creation across the continent. Renewable energy is best placed to address the energy need, but it also creates challenges around the sourcing, reuse and end-of-life management of materials and technologies such as solar panels, and batteries.

“The conference will explore how circular economy principles can help African nations capture greater value from renewable energy supply chains through the repurposing of technologies and components, waste reduction, and the development of local industries.”

A keynote address on ‘Powering Africa's Energy Future: Energy Access, Sustainable Infrastructure and the Role of Circular Value Chains’ will be given by Riad Meddeb, Head of Decarbonization and Sustainable Energy at the UNDP.

Professor Battisti added that the event reflects growing international recognition that the energy transition must be accompanied by new approaches to resource management.

“Africa's renewable energy transition represents one of the most significant economic and sustainability opportunities of our time for the African people and for the planet,” she said.

“But ensuring that this clean transition delivers long-term prosperity requires us to think beyond energy generation alone and focus on creating circular value chains that maximise local businesses, utilise local resources, create local capabilities, skills and local jobs, generate resource efficiency and sustainable development for local growth.

“Circular solutions for sustainable energy provision can create a new development pathway, enabling countries to avoid the fossil fuel-dependent, high-carbon growth model of many developed economies.

“They provide an opportunity to create a new and unique model of economic development and we should pursue it."

Leading international efforts to advance sustainable energy in Africa

The conference builds on Professor Battisti's growing international engagement in sustainable technologies and industrial policies for economic growth and social justice.

Earlier this year she took part in various UN high-level political forums on the sustainable transition of Africa at the UN's headquarters in New York and the United Nations Climate Change meeting in Bonn, while last year she also attended the United Nations General Assembly's ‘Green week’ event in New York and COP30 in Brazil where she discussed policy frameworks for sustainable transition

As deputy director of CEPREC, Professor Battisti, who will be joining the University of Warwick’s delegation to COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, in November, is helping to shape the £3.5 million pan-African research programme co-funded by the UK Government's Ayrton Fund.

The initiative focuses on repurposing end-of-life electric vehicle components, including batteries and inverters, for renewable energy microgrids serving off-grid and underserved communities across sub-Saharan Africa.

She said collaboration between governments, industry, academia and international organisations are crucial to delivering impact and achieving the UN’s Paris Agreement to pursue efforts to limit global temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

“No single organisation can address the challenges of the energy transition alone,” said Professor Battisti. “Bringing together policymakers, development banks, international agencies, researchers and business leaders creates a unique opportunity to identify practical solutions that can accelerate investment and implementation across Africa."

The conference aims to produce an evidence-based policy brief and recommendations to strengthen regulatory frameworks, financing mechanisms and regional co-operation to support circular renewable energy systems.

Professor Battisti added: “Governments increasingly need to seek ways to balance climate goals, economic development and energy security. I hope the conference will help turn high-level ambition into practical action across Africa and for Africa’s growth.”

Giuliana Battisti is Professor of the Economics of Innovation and teaches Economics of the Business Environment on the Executive MBA, Weekend MBA, and Global Online MBA.

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