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By Correspond, Harare
As global demand for critical minerals surges to power the clean energy transition, feminist advocates are raising urgent concerns about who truly benefits and who is left behind. Across mineral-rich regions in Africa, women are calling for a fundamental shift in how extractive industries operate, demanding justice, equity, and meaningful participation in decision-making processes.
For many women living in mineral-rich communities, the threat of losing land, livelihoods, and cultural heritage is a daily reality. What is often framed as progress through “green energy” is, on the ground, experienced as dispossession and disruption.
Gamuchirai Munesi, acting village head of the Vatombe community in Hanyanya village, Bikita region of Zimbabwe, describes lithium mining as a growing crisis.
“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.
Despite these challenges, Munesi emphasised the community’s resolve: “We are determined to resist any encroachment on our land. Our struggle is also about legal empowerment and ensuring our concerns are addressed through the appropriate authorities.”
Munesi spoke during a recent story circle event in Hanyanya that brought together grassroots women, eco-feminists, and climate justice activists. Organised by SHINE Collab and partners, the event reflects a community-centered approach championed by Dr. Mela Chiponda, Executive Director of SHINE Collab and a leading eco-feminist scholar.
Story circles, structured, facilitated dialogues where small groups share personal experiences, are increasingly being used as tools for inclusive engagement. Rooted in principles of deep listening, equality, and empathy, they create space for grassroots voices that are often excluded from formal policy platforms.
Civil society organisations and eco-feminist networks are embracing this approach to surface indigenous knowledge and grassroots-driven solutions. Insights from these engagements are informing growing demands for gender-responsive budgeting, community ownership models, protection of land rights, and investment in women-led enterprises, particularly in spaces where grassroots women remain underrepresented.
Dr. Chiponda warns that while the world celebrates a “green future,” the realities for many African women remain deeply unequal. “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 further argues that current models of mineral extraction replicate colonial patterns, where resources are extracted for global markets while local communities, especially women, bear the social and environmental costs. These include insecure land rights, increased unpaid care work, and heightened risks of gender-based violence.
Drawing lessons from a renewable energy project in Bikita, Dr. Chiponda highlighted the central role women play in driving adoption at the community level. “It is only fair that their views and indigenous knowledge are integrated into the solutions we pursue,” she noted.
A recent United Nations report on critical minerals, water insecurity, and injustice underscores these concerns, warning that the extraction of minerals such as lithium and cobalt, essential for green technologies, can generate severe environmental and health impacts.
“Technological disruptions are necessary,” said UNU-INWEH Director Kaveh Madani, who led the study. “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.”
Dr. Chiponda emphasised that a truly just transition must go beyond technical solutions and economic gains to confront structural inequalities.
Across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Great Lakes region, women in mineral-rich communities continue to face displacement, environmental degradation, and loss of livelihoods. Despite their central role in local economies and natural resource management, they are often excluded from negotiations, compensation frameworks, and ownership structures.
Evidence from countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo further shows that mining is linked to pollution, displacement, child labor, and sexual violence, impacts that disproportionately affect women and children.
“We cannot talk about sustainability without justice,” Dr. Chiponda stressed. “Women are not just victims of these systems; they are leaders, innovators, and knowledge holders. Their voices must be recognised, resourced, and respected.”
There is growing pressure on governments, multilateral development banks, and private sector actors to adopt feminist principles in climate and energy strategies. This includes ensuring transparency, accountability, and inclusive participation at every stage of mineral extraction and processing.
As global powers compete for access to Africa’s critical minerals, essential for electric vehicles, solar panels, and battery technologies, the question of justice is becoming impossible to ignore.
For many advocates, the path forward is clear: the transition must not only be green but also feminist.
“A truly just transition is one where African women are not an afterthought,” Dr. Chiponda concluded. “They must be at the center, shaping the future, not merely surviving its consequences.”
