Energy Transition: a Tipping Point for More Justice in an Africa-Europe Partnership

European energy-intensive industries seek sustainable solutions
Africa's green energy potential offers opportunities

Rising energy costs, regulations, and global competition pose challenges for European energy-intensive industries. Exploration of a promising and mutually beneficial Africa-Europe partnership is motivated by the need for sustainable energy solutions in Europe and the abundance of green energy resources in Africa. Such a partnership aims for more social justice, while also considering China's role in accessing rare earth minerals and Africa's strategic importance in the geopolitical landscape.

The challenges for energy-intensive industries in Europe

What is the future for chemistry in Antwerp?

(Editorial from "De Standaard," 13-12-2025)

Does the chemical industry, the "industry of industries," still have a place in Belgium? (13-12-2025)

The Flemish press, through the main article of the newspaper "De Standaard," questions the future of chemistry in Antwerp and broader in Europe. Europe's chemical industry is threatened by high energy prices, restrictive climate measures, emission taxes, bureaucracy, and excessive regulation. Despite subsidies, easing climate rules, or the construction of new nuclear power plants, the energy-intensive industry of Europe seems doomed in the long term.'Governments are right to worry about the state of the sector. But they also have a duty to go beyond slogans and examine what chemistry is still really necessary - and really viable - here,' writes De Standaard.

The global race for rare earth minerals: China's role and the African challenge

China may be better positioned than the US in the battle for rare earth minerals

South China Morning Post - Hong Kong,

11/12/2025

The "South China Morning Post" points out that some leaders of countries with "rare earth minerals" now want the exploitation of these resources to be accompanied by their local processing and the creation of formal jobs.

This transfer of skills for the local processing of strategic raw materials caters to electoral interests and promotes local economic growth.

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"Green" electricity at a fifth of the cost of "grey" nuclear energy

More and more chemical giants prefer to build new factories in China or the Middle East. The Middle East is blessed with an abundance of oil and solar energy. In early 2025, China laid the foundation stone for a mega-hydropower plant, capable of producing as much electricity as 70 nuclear power plants at a fifth of the cost per gigawatt. This truly "green" electricity will be generated with proven and recyclable technologies, unlike "grey" nuclear energy, with incalculable decommissioning costs.

Unemployed engineers, agronomists, and IT professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be plagued by a significant highly educated middle class (engineers, economists, agronomists, IT professionals) without prospects for a decent future. This situation leads to frustrations and even extremism, as evidenced by the example of young agronomists in Niger who, lacking a perspective, are tempted to join armed groups in the Sahel.

The aspiration for a European model of society

Despite anti-Western and anti-neocolonial sentiments, this African middle class continues to dream of a societal model based on formal employment, education, social protection, social progress, retirement, peace, and openness to the world, modeled after Europe.

Senegal: the example of a political transition led by educated youth

In Senegal, in 2024, a young educated middle class was at the base of a profound political transition and the clear election, from the first round, of a young, relatively inexperienced duo of a president and a prime minister open to dialogue.

In August 2025, the new president in Paris, despite an anti-French climate in Dakar, called on French employers for a transfer of manufacturing industrial skills and innovative economic partnerships aimed at education and industrial development, rather than extracting soil resources.

The case of the Democratic Republic of Congo: potential and opportunities

The GRAND INGA DRC hydropower project = 35 nuclear reactors

Congo, although weakly industrialized, must integrate one million young people into the labor market each year. Thanks to its climate-strategic soil resources, its unique agricultural potential, and abundant green energy, the country offers a great opportunity for industrial partnerships. China recently started a large hydropower project in Tibet, while simultaneously withdrawing from the GRAND INGA project in the DRC. This context paves the way for a European proposal: a public-private partnership of €100 billion to realize the 44 GW GRAND INGA hydropower project, equal to the capacity of 35 modern nuclear reactors.

Betting on development: a strategy for the future

In his book "BETTING ON DEVELOPMENT - Why some countries win and others lose" concludes Oxford professor Derkon, a Belgian, that in successful developing countries, elites transition from protecting their own position to betting on a future based on inclusive growth through the productive industrialization of their countries. Inspired by Derkon, it is proposed to encourage a hundred Belgian industrial SMEs to enter into partnerships with Congolese companies, supported by abundant renewable energy. This dynamic could lead to the industrialization of Congo, the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs, and the emergence of a new market for Belgian industrial products, while the DRC currently accounts for only a negligible share of Belgian exports.

A winning bet for the Congolese elite

If the Congolese political elites dare to bet on the massive creation of decent jobs through the development of industrial partnerships with European SMEs and the implementation of the GRAND INGA project, there is a real chance that they can not only be democratically re-elected but also contribute to peace throughout Africa.

Changing European and African mentalities

Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa can boast an educated middle class, natural resources, and renewable energy, but fail to benefit from these strong assets because Africa is still seen as just a reservoir of raw materials. Therefore, the recommendation:

that European governments assess which industries are truly necessary and viable in Europe;
that all African diasporas in Europe promote their entire continent to European institutions and to the entire European civil society;
that the EU organizes a change of mindset, changes the perception of Africa, and recognizes that Europe needs Africa more than vice versa.

The goal would be to stimulate the creation of 1,000 SME partnerships between the African Union and the European Union, a flywheel for the industrialization of all of Africa and a favorable dynamic on a global scale.

In practice: a two-pronged approach for the DRC

A proposal to test, with the highest priority, the reaction of the Congolese political elite to a two-pronged strategy:

the establishment of 500 industrial collaborations between European and Congolese SMEs;
the eventual transfer of European energy-intensive industries to the GRAND ENGA region, with access to a deep-sea port on the Atlantic Ocean, as part of the EU Global Gateway.

Cost of this approach for the European taxpayer: "Schwarze Null"

Conclusion: a unique opportunity for Europe and Africa

Intensive industrial cooperation with Africa offers Europe a unique opportunity to revitalize its economy and strengthen its geopolitical position. The massive mixing ("metissage") of industrial processes and technologies between the two continents, despite their differences but at a short cultural distance, promotes serendipity, innovation, and the accidental emergence of new products and services that are internationally useful. "Connecting the dots" between Africa and Europe paves the way for a prosperous future for both continents, a turning point for more social justice between Africa and Europe, provided that a new way of thinking is adopted and a truly egalitarian partnership is built.

More

A guided shift in European mindsets

‘Jobs’ that is what Africa is concerned about

Europe must merit a partnership with Africa

Europe needs Africa more than the other way around

Gambling on development. Why some countries win and others lose (Derkon)

Energy Transition: a Tipping Point for More Justice in an Africa-Europe Partnership

An AU-EU Mandela-Schuman Community of Energy-Intensive Industries boosts world peace

Does Europe need “historically low energy costs” if neighbouring Africa is brimming with green energy?

All African diasporas promote all of Africa

The challenge of the African SME in international industrial value chains

Industrial cross-pollination with Africa restores a geopolitically agitated Europe