{
  "id": 2400614,
  "title": "AFREIKH Summer School opens with focus on managing Africa’s extractive future in energy transition",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/21/afreikh-summer-school-opens-with-focus-on-managing-africas-extractive",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-21T16:09:35.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/afreikh-summer-school-opens-with-focus-on-managing-africas-extractive-future-in-energy-transition/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The 2026 Summer School on Managing Africa’s Extractives in the Energy Transition kicked off on Thursday, August 20, at the Africa Regional Extractive Industries Knowledge Hub (AFREIKH). Organized by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the discussions centered around the query: How can Africa convert its abundant natural resource wealth into enduring development?\n\nBenjamin Boakye, ACEP's Executive Director, highlighted that while the continent has long supplied oil, gas, and minerals to global markets, resource wealth has often failed to generate equitable economic development. Africa's reliance on oil revenues has generated high expectations without delivering anticipated transformation, while mining has frequently resulted in environmental degradation, weak governance, and unequal benefit distribution. This historical context raises the uncomfortable question: As Africa enters the new phase of the global energy transition, will critical minerals become another missed opportunity, or could they mark a turning point for Africa’s industrialization?\n\nMr. Boakye emphasized that the rising global demand for critical minerals presents Africa with a significant opportunity. However, having these resources is merely the beginning; the real challenge lies in determining how Africa can leverage them. The Africa Director of NRGI, Nafi Quarshie, urged Africa to move beyond a model focused on extracting and exporting raw materials. She stated that Africa must find ways to utilize its resource wealth to generate jobs, develop industries, build productive capacity, and retain a larger portion of the value generated from its natural resources. This, she emphasized, necessitates more than favorable commodity prices or increased investment; it requires capabilities.\n\nMs. Magdalena Wüst, Deputy Head of Cooperation from the Swiss Embassy, urged participants to view the Summer School as a premier platform for learning, knowledge sharing, and collaborative peer learning. She challenged the attendees to learn from past failures, strengthen institutions, demand accountability, and challenge conventional resource governance approaches. The critical question, she posed, has shifted from what resources does Africa possess to what capabilities does Africa need to capture the value from those resources?\n\nThe conference's opening ceremony concluded with the assertion: Africa possesses the resources; the defining question now is whether it can develop the capabilities to transform those resources into industries, jobs, value, and lasting development.",
  "summary": "The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), in partnership with Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), on Thursday, August 20, began the 2026 Summer School on Managing Africa’s Extractives in the Energy Transition.",
  "key_points": [
    "Focus on converting Africa’s natural resource wealth into equitable development.",
    "Critical minerals present opportunity, but challenge lies in leveraging them for industrialization."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}