The Business & Human Rights Centre (BHRC) and INSPIRE will co-host a two-day workshop and convening on the sidelines of the Alternative Mining Indaba (AMI) 2026, themed 'Power to the People: Owning Africa’s Energy Future.'

The AMI brings together a range of stakeholders across Africa to examine progress and challenges in advancing responsible business conduct, human rights, and corporate accountability in the use of natural resources. The AMI 2026 theme reflects a collective demand for a fair and inclusive transition that ensures communities benefit from Africa’s natural resources. It also calls attention to the historical extractive models rooted in the exclusion and marginalisation of communities, especially those living closest to mining and energy projects.

Africa’s central role in the global energy and climate discourse is shaped by three interconnected realities:

1. Energy access and poverty: Close to half of people living in Africa remain without access to reliable energy, despite the continent’s vast renewable potential.
2. Transition minerals and extractives: Africa is rich in transitional minerals such as lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese which are essential for clean energy technologies.
3. The renewable energy surge: Large-scale investments in wind, solar, and geothermal energy are underway through mechanisms such as the Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs).

To ensure that the energy transition benefits people and planet, Africa’s transition must be grounded in human rights, accountability, and community co-ownership.

Workshop structure and thematic focus

DAY 1: MINING, TRANSITION MINERALS AND AGRICULTURE

12 February 2026

Theme: Responsible use of natural resources and equitable value chains.

Focus:

• Human rights risks and opportunities in the use of natural resources as well as transition minerals.
• Community consent, participation, and benefit-sharing in mining and agricultural value chains.
• Addressing displacement, land use conflicts, and environmental degradation.
• Strengthening due diligence frameworks
• Accountability mechanisms for companies and financiers operating in high-risk extractive and agricultural sectors.

DAY 2: RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS AND THE JUST TRANSITION

13 February 2026

Theme: Powering equity – embedding human rights and co-ownership in Africa’s renewable energy future.

Focus:

• Human rights impacts of renewable energy projects.
• Benefit-sharing and co-ownership models in renewable energy initiatives (drawing lessons from South Africa’s REIPPPP).
• Ensuring due diligence and access to remedy in renewable energy companies’ operations.
• Accountability in financing arrangements and meaningful community engagement and participation in project planning and decision-making processes.
• Tools, frameworks and policies to guide a just and fair energy transition in Africa.

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