Energy transition: Don warns Africa against false solutions

Associate Professor of Economics at Denison University, U.S.A., Dr. Fadhel Kaboub, has cautioned African countries against embracing nuclear energy as part of the continent’s energy transition agenda.

Kaboub described nuclear energy as a costly and dangerous “false solution” designed to reinforce global economic dependency.

Kaboub spoke virtually as a guest speaker at a workshop organised to sensitise the media on the dangers of nuclear energy on Friday, May 8, 2026, in Lagos.

The workshop was organised by Renevlyn Development Initiative with support from Tipping Point North South.

Kaboub argued that the push for nuclear power across Africa was less about solving the continent’s electricity challenges and more about preserving global geopolitical and economic hierarchies.

According to him, Africa stands at a historic crossroads where it must balance energy governance with ecological, food and economic governance.

“The debate around nuclear energy in Africa is not fundamentally about solving Africa’s energy crisis.

“It is about preserving a global economic and geopolitical hierarchy. It is about maintaining systems of technological dependency, financial extraction and geopolitical control,” he said.

Kaboub argued that African nations were being encouraged to depend on technologies owned, financed, patented and controlled by foreign powers, rather than building sovereign African energy systems.

He likened the current push for nuclear energy to earlier forms of economic dominance experienced through colonialism, structural adjustment programmes and debt dependency.

According to him, Africa has become the “last frontier” for an industry that is increasingly struggling economically in other parts of the world.

He noted that countries, including the United States, Russia, China, France, South Korea and Japan, were aggressively promoting nuclear technology projects across Africa.

“Why wouldn’t they? Africa is projected to become the largest market on the planet by the end of this century.

“Africa’s population is expected to rise from 1.5 billion today to about four billion people by 2100,” he said.

Kaboub questioned why Africa, despite possessing some of the world’s richest solar, wind, geothermal and hydro resources, was being encouraged to adopt what he described as “the slowest, most expensive and most centralised energy system imaginable”.

Citing a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, he said Africa could generate up to 1,000 times its projected energy needs from renewable sources within 15 years.

He, however, lamented that the continent continued to receive only about one per cent of global renewable energy financing and remained systematically excluded from access to key manufacturing and deployment technologies.

According to him, powerful countries fear that Africa’s full renewable energy potential could disrupt existing geopolitical and economic arrangements.

Cover photo: Dr. Fadhel Kaboub