INSPIRE @Africa

This pioneering research initiative aims to deepen understanding of how social performance (SP) practitioners across Africa experience and navigate their roles within the renewable energy sector. Practitioners working at the intersection of companies, communities, and government are key to ensuring that large-scale RE projects deliver meaningful, locally informed benefits – yet their voices are rarely centered in the conversation.

Through this project, INSPIRE, in collaboration with lead researcher Lesedi Komi from Botswana, is engaging directly with SP practitioners across diverse African contexts to document shared challenges, effective practices, and actionable insights.

The research process includes building a continental database of SP practitioners, conducting and analysing in-depth interviews, and publishing a concise Practice Insights document to share findings with the wider sector. The project will also contribute to INSPIRE’s mission of fostering co-produced, justice-based approaches to Africa’s renewable energy transition.

The results will inform practitioners, companies, policymakers, and civil society actors on how to better support frontline professionals and advance social performance as a pillar of just energy development.