POWER FAILURE OP-ED: How to fix the hamstrung renewable energy sectors in SA, Ghana and Kenya
Despite demand, the potential of the renewable energy sectors in these countries is being held back by unstable demand, limited localisation enforcement, deficits in decent job creation and persistent gender biases, according to new reports.
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South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya possess significant potential in their renewable energy sectors. However, unstable demand, limited localisation enforcement, weak job creation, and gender biases hinder this growth according to reports by the Institute for Economic Justice and partners. These findings stem from a four-year study across all three countries.
The renewable energy sector has seen substantial growth in capacity, with South Africa reaching over 7GW, Ghana at 5.3GW, and Kenya at 2.6GW. This growth is largely due to public procurement initiatives such as South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, Kenya's Energy Act of 2019, and Ghana's 2021 National Energy Policy and 2020 amendments.
Yet, these cycles of procurement have created uncertainty for investment, expansion, and worker retention. Local content policies, which aim to boost demand for locally produced products, have faced implementation challenges across all three nations. In China, mature value chains, large-scale production, and extensive supplier networks have bolstered local manufacturers. However, South Africa's lack of such a robust manufacturing sector means local producers face higher production costs and intense competition.
In Ghana and Kenya, nascent renewable energy assembly sectors struggle to develop a strong manufacturing base. The absence of established industrial policies in these countries makes local assembly sectors less competitive.
The monitoring and enforcement of local content policies also present significant challenges. Weaknesses in these areas, combined with tariff misclassification loopholes, undermine localisation efforts. For example, staged consignment in South Africa allows large equipment to be imported as components using lower duty tariffs. In Ghana, the mismatch in incentive structures for finished PV products versus their assembly components hampers localisation objectives.
Job creation in the sector is limited, with many positions in downstream activities like construction and precarious in nature. Women remain underrepresented across these industries, with gendered job segregation prevalent in all three countries. While some progress has been made to address these issues, more work remains to boost local manufacturing and create secure, inclusive employment opportunities.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
