Water and energy have never been separate conversations on this continent, even when policymakers treat them that way. Writing ahead of COP31, Dr Jonty Cogger and Paul Wani Lado are making the case that Africa's energy transition has a blind spot, and that blind spot is water.
Drawing on South Africa's experience, the two researchers argue that any proposed fossil fuel investment needs to be tested against how much water it will consume. The logic is straightforward: energy projects that strain local water supplies do not deliver development. They shift the burden onto the communities living closest to those projects.
The piece arrives at a critical moment. As African governments work to expand electricity access and power growing industries, the pressure to greenlight quick-win energy investments is real. Cogger and Lado are not saying slow down. They are saying look at the full picture before you sign anything.
The communities whose water supplies sit nearest to these projects are rarely the ones at the negotiating table. That is exactly the gap a just transition is supposed to close.
Originally published by AllAfrica.