This book examines how the global energy transition has thrust Africa back to the center of global politics. Renewed international interest in the continent stems from its rich mineral resource endowments—particularly so-called "green" or critical minerals, which are key to the electrification processes unfolding worldwide. Yet despite these vast resource endowments, many African countries remain largely poor, trapped in a cycle of commodity production. This edited volume contributes to ongoing debates on how resource-rich African countries can benefit from the unfolding energy transition through reindustrialization and broad-based economic development. By focusing on the African continent as a whole rather than on individual countries, the book enables comparative analysis of regional and continent-wide policy developments, opportunities for collaboration in the pursuit of reindustrialization, investments in clean energy infrastructure, and technological innovation.

Dr. Grasian Mkodzongi is Director at Tropical Africa Land and Natural Resources Research Institute based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He is a Senior Research Associate at the Nordic Africa Institute (Sweden). His research explores the intersection of agrarian transformation, climate change, critical minerals and economic development in Africa. He has published extensively on land reform and agrarian transformation, critical minerals and re-industrialization in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the southern African sub-region