Renewable Energy Transition Policies and Their Impact on Foreign Direct Investment in Mining-Dependent Economies in Africa

The global imperative to decarbonise industrial energy systems has placed mining-dependent economies in Africa at the intersection of two powerful and occasionally competing forces: the structural demand for fossil-fuel-intensive energy to sustain mineral extraction, and the growing conditionality attached to foreign direct investment by ESG-oriented global capital markets that require demonstrable alignment with low-carbon development trajectories. This paper examines, through doctrinal analysis and comparative case study, the impact of renewable energy transition policies on foreign direct investment in three of Africa's most significant mining-dependent economies Botswana, Zambia and Ghana each of which exemplifies a distinct configuration of mineral dependency, energy vulnerability and policy ambition. Drawing on national legislation, policy frameworks, regulatory instruments and international investment law, the paper establishes that coherent and credible renewable transition policy frameworks materially enhance the foreign direct investment attractiveness of mining-dependent economies by reducing energy cost volatility, signalling regulatory stability, aligning national frameworks with ESG standards and unlocking access to climate-aligned finance. The paper identifies, and critically analyses, the principal structural and legal challenges that constrain the pace and depth of renewable transition in these economies