For much of the last decade, the success of Africa’s energy transition has been measured in megawatts. We celebrate the commissioning of solar plants, wind farms, and battery projects. We track investment commitments, transmission infrastructure and carbon reductions. These are important indicators of progress, but they tell only half the story.

The real question is no longer whether Africa can build renewable energy. It is whether Africa can develop the people who will sustain it. South Africa’s Just Energy Transition has always been about more than replacing one source of electricity with another. It is about creating an economy that is cleaner, more resilient and, importantly, more inclusive. That means recognising that human capacity – our technicians, artisans, operators, engineers and community leaders – is every bit as critical as physical infrastructure. 

Beyond Infrastructure, Towards Capability

Renewable energy is often described as an infrastructure story. But it is equally a workforce story. Every solar facility needs electricians and plant operators, while wind farms depend on maintenance technicians, environmental practitioners and safety specialists. New projects also create demand for project managers, community liaison and supply chain expertise.

As South Africa accelerates renewable energy investment, these skills will increasingly determine whether projects are delivered on time, operated efficiently and generate meaningful local economic value. Skills shortages are already an emerging constraint in the green economy.

The transition will not succeed by installing more technology. It will succeed by developing more capability.

Redefining What “Just” Really Means

“Just” is often interpreted as protecting workers affected by coal decommissioning. While essential, just also means expanding opportunity for those historically excluded from the energy economy: young people entering technical careers, women accessing operational roles and rural communities participating in industries on their doorstep. A truly just transition is measured not only by emissions avoided, but by careers created.

This matters as governments and industry recognise that energy security, economic growth and employment are deeply interconnected. The transition must deliver livelihoods alongside low-carbon infrastructure if it is to earn lasting public support.

This is where work-integrated learning becomes powerful. When learning is embedded in real infrastructure, students gain the confidence and competence to enter an increasingly specialised energy sector. But this exposure must be an entry point to long-term careers, not a temporary bridge to nowhere.

Too often, certification and short-term placements are treated as the finish line, rather than the beginning of the harder, longer-term work of sustainable job creation.

Human Capacity Creates Community Infrastructure

Localisation is often framed around procurement, but localising knowledge is equally important. When technical skills remain within communities, renewable energy projects create benefits that extend beyond construction, strengthening municipal capacity, supporting emerging enterprises and enabling local maintenance ecosystems.

The Renewable Energy Training programme, implemented and facilitated by Knowledge Pele, responds to this need: proximity to a power plant should translate into real local opportunity, not simply electricity on the grid. The NQF Level 4 programme is designed to make participants employable, entrepreneurial and ready for further study, with work-integrated learning at its core.

This requires strong partnerships to place participants on real work sites and ensure they complete their qualifications. Training providers cannot do this alone. Industry, government and training institutions must plan from the outset for mentors, safety inductions, supervision and meaningful workplace learning.

We also need to see renewable energy as a whole economy, not simply a collection of technical roles. Projects require lawyers, accountants and development practitioners alongside technicians and engineers. Across Southern Africa, where renewable generation is expanding, this creates an opportunity to develop professionals capable of supporting an interconnected African energy market.

Developing people is therefore not simply a social investment; it is an economic strategy.

The Legacy we Choose to Build

Africa’s energy future will undoubtedly be defined by significant infrastructure investment. New transmission networks, renewable generation and battery storage will reshape how electricity is produced and traded across the continent.

Yet decades from now, the most valuable assets may not be the wind turbines turning on the horizon or the solar panels stretching across the Karoo. They may be the thousands of professionals whose careers were made possible because industry chose to invest in human capacity with the same ambition that it invested in energy infrastructure.

A just energy transition is ultimately not only about powering economies. It is about empowering the people who will power them.

By Jolene Shaw, GM at Knowledge Pele since 2023. She oversees operations and development programmes aimed at community impact and sustainability. Shaw is dedicated to reshaping community ecosystems for sustainable livelihoods and has received prestigious awards for her contributions.