Policy Brief - The Energy Transition Amidst Global Uncertainties: A Focus on Critical Minerals

The most significant would be the risk that current standard practices in the extractive sector are perpetuated: African countries tend to be confined to the role of suppliers of raw materials without adding value and without benefiting from high-skilled jobs resulting from the diffusion of technology and the development of production capacity (Usman et al, 2021). [...] While in the short term, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war between Ukraine and Russia may affect the process of transition and sustainability; in the long term, the need to reduce the use of hydrocarbons could be a powerful driver to strengthen the dynamics of the energy transition. [...] CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS As the aftermath of the recent energy crisis, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global recession, and the Russia-Ukraine war, continues to unfold, the world must not lose sight of the long-term goal of the energy transition. [...] The Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) is a Moroccan think tank tasked with the mission of contributing to the improvement of international, economic and social public policies that challenge Morocco and Africa as integral parts of the Global South. [...] The PCNS advocates the concept of an open, responsible and proactive « new South »; a South that defines its own narratives, as well as the mental maps around the Mediterranean and South Atlantic basins, within the framework of an open relationship with the rest of the world.