Feminist Voices Demand Justice and Inclusion in Africa’s Critical Minerals Boom

Harare, Zimbabwe 2026 – As global demand for critical minerals accelerates to support the clean energy transition, feminist advocates across Africa are calling for greater justice, inclusion, and protection for women in mineral-rich communities who say they are being left behind.

The concerns are growing in regions where minerals such as lithium and cobalt are increasingly extracted to power electric vehicles, solar technologies, and battery systems. While the transition to green energy is being celebrated globally, many grassroots communities describe a different reality marked by land loss, environmental degradation, and exclusion from decision-making.

In Zimbabwe’s Bikita region, Acting Village Head of the Vatombe community, Gamuchirai Munesi, said lithium mining has become a major threat to local livelihoods and cultural heritage.

“Lithium mining has become a curse. It threatens our mountains, our water sources, and the land that has sustained the Vatombe people for generations,” she said.

Munesi made the remarks during a recent story circle event in Hanyanya, an initiative that brought together grassroots women, eco-feminists, and climate justice activists. The event was organised by SHINE Collab and partners, focusing on community-driven dialogue and inclusion.

Story circles, which are structured dialogue sessions aimed at encouraging shared storytelling and active listening, are increasingly being used by civil society groups to elevate voices often excluded from formal policy spaces.

Executive Director of SHINE Collab, Dr Mela Chiponda, said the current energy transition risks replicating historical inequalities if women’s voices are not integrated into decision-making processes.

“The transition to clean energy cannot be built on the same extractive logic that has historically marginalised women,” she said. “This moment demands that we rethink power who holds it, who benefits, and how women, particularly at the grassroots, can shape these systems.”

She warned that current extractive models mirror colonial-era patterns, where resources are exported for global benefit while local communities bear environmental and social costs. These include insecure land rights, increased unpaid care work, and heightened risks of gender-based violence.

A recent study by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health also highlights concerns over the environmental and social impacts of critical mineral extraction. The report warns that mining essential materials such as lithium and cobalt can intensify water insecurity and environmental degradation in vulnerable regions.

“Technological disruptions are necessary,” said UNU-INWEH Director Kaveh Madani. “But we must address their unintended consequences. A transition cannot be called green, sustainable, or just if it shifts environmental harm from the rich to the poor, or from one region to another.”

Across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Great Lakes region, women in mining communities continue to report displacement and exclusion from compensation and ownership structures, despite their central role in local economies.

Evidence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has also linked mining activities to pollution, child labour, and sexual violence impacts that disproportionately affect women and children.

Advocates are now calling on governments, development banks, and private sector actors to adopt feminist principles in climate and energy strategies, ensuring transparency, accountability, and meaningful participation for women at every stage of the value chain.

As competition intensifies for Africa’s critical minerals, feminist groups say the future of the energy transition must be not only sustainable but also equitable.

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