African governments have been warned against adopting energy transition policies that increase public debt, deepen corporate control of natural resources and expose vulnerable communities to further economic and environmental injustices.

The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA and Make Big Polluters Pay, MBPP said Africa’s transition to cleaner energy must prioritise local development needs, protect community livelihoods and ensure that historically high-emitting countries provide adequate financing.

The organisations raised the concerns during the media presentation of two reports examining Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP) and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of five African countries.

The reports, titled Four Years On: Examining Nigeria’s Just Transition Plan and Nationally Determined Contributions in Africa: A Five-Country Policy Analysis, assessed climate policies in Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, Togo and Uganda.

Speaking at the presentation, CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said Africa contributed relatively little to historical global emissions but continued to bear a disproportionate share of the consequences of climate change.

He identified contradictions in the continent’s climate policies, particularly governments’ simultaneous promotion of renewable energy and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure.

Oluwafemi cited Nigeria’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2060 alongside its ambition to produce three million barrels of crude oil daily by 2030 as an example of conflicting priorities in the energy transition process.

He also pointed to continued investment in oil exploration and infrastructure in Uganda and Cameroon despite their climate commitments.

The CAPPA executive director expressed concern over the increasing involvement of foreign companies and private consultants in developing African climate policies, warning that such arrangements could allow external interests to influence decisions that should reflect local priorities.

He also criticised climate financing arrangements that depend heavily on loans, arguing that African countries should not accumulate additional debt to address a crisis they contributed relatively little to creating.

Presenting the reports, CAPPA Assistant Executive Director, Zikora Ibeh, said Africa accounted for less than three per cent of cumulative global carbon dioxide emissions through 2024, excluding land-use change, despite experiencing significant climate-related disruptions to agricultural productivity and livelihoods.

She said African governments must defend the continent’s right to development without using it to justify prolonged dependence on fossil fuels and corporate-driven exploitation.

Ibeh disclosed that Nigeria’s climate commitments were estimated to require $337bn between 2026 and 2035, with 80 per cent expected from international funding.

She also noted that Togo depended on international support for 69.9 per cent of its climate financing requirements, while about 80 per cent of South Africa’s recorded international climate finance for 2021 and 2022 came in the form of loans.

According to her, such arrangements risk transferring the financial burden of historical pollution to African countries through debt and interest payments.

The reports also raised concerns about carbon markets and offsetting schemes, warning that commercial plantations and carbon-credit projects could result in the appropriation of indigenous lands and displacement of local communities.

Ibeh cited concerns over carbon projects in Uganda, including documented forced evictions associated with a forestry and carbon-credit project, as evidence of the potential consequences of poorly regulated climate interventions.

She called for legally binding safeguards for indigenous people, smallholder farmers, rural women and other vulnerable communities, alongside transparent climate budgets and meaningful public participation in decisions affecting their lands and livelihoods.

Also speaking, CAPPA Associate Director, Olamide Martins, said the assessment was designed to expose contradictions in African climate policies and challenge the growing influence of foreign capital and corporate interests in determining the continent’s energy future.

He called for greater African capacity to develop and implement climate policies based on local resources and development priorities rather than excessive dependence on external financing and solutions promoted by foreign interests.

Martins also emphasised the need to address historical responsibility, insisting that developed countries with greater contributions to global emissions should provide adequate climate finance and reparations.

The reports recommended a planned and adequately funded transition away from fossil fuel dependence, increased public investment in decentralised renewable energy, affordable and reliable electricity, environmental restoration and enforceable protections for workers and affected communities.

They also urged African governments to reject financing arrangements that deepen indebtedness and ensure climate decisions remain accountable to citizens rather than creditors, investors and corporate interests.

The reports were presented as the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) gets underway in Antalya, Turkey, where CAPPA said it would present the findings to African policymakers, negotiators and other stakeholders to advance discussions on climate justice and a people-centred energy transition.