South Africa and Europe in the Energy Transition

South Africa finds itself in a conundrum as to how best to respond to the energy transition, particularly in Europe, to benefit from growing clean-energy industries. Chinese investment is one route to participate in the production of solar panels and EVs and may be the most promising for most wind technologies as well. If South Africa aspires to develop industries at any scale, companies will need to export to Europe and the US, capitalizing on efforts to diversify supply chains. But the EU and US are simultaneously closing off routes for Chinese companies to sell to their markets, except where they are investing within their borders.