Africa stands at the brink of a groundbreaking transformation, bringing sustainable development and a brighter future to the continent. As it embraces renewable energies, positive disruption is leading to cleaner, more efficient, and economically viable mining operations. This transformation not only strengthens Africa’s position in the global economy, but also demonstrates its commitment to responsible resource management and presents a compelling case for investment from the rest of the world.
The exponential growth of renewable energy in Africa is evident in the Financial Times’s list of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies of 2023. This unprecedented renewable energy growth paves the way for Africa to strengthen its global economic standing. It presents an exceptional opportunity for international investors and companies to participate in the journey, harnessing the continent’s renewable potential while contributing to its economic and environmental progress.
A natural fit for Africa’s mining industry
Renewable energy technologies, including solar, wind, and hydropower, are being seamlessly integrated into the mining sector in Africa, facilitated by its rich natural resources and abundant sunlight and wind. These technologies bring a host of advantages: slashing greenhouse gas emissions, lowering operational costs, and enhancing energy security.
Solar power, in particular, is transforming African mining operations. With technological advancements and declining solar panel costs, mining companies are increasingly turning to solar energy, reducing carbon footprints and boosting profitability by cutting energy expenses and dependence on costly diesel generators.
Wind energy projects have also gained traction in regions with consistent wind patterns, providing clean and reliable energy for mining operations while stimulating local economies through job creation and infrastructure development.
Hydropower, another renewable energy source, is also being harnessed across the continent to provide stable electricity for mining operations. Dams and small-scale hydroelectric projects are now integral components of sustainable energy solutions in many African countries, providing a reliable power supply even in remote mining areas.
The reputational and ESG benefits of renewable energy
Africa’s mining industry has traditionally grappled with resource-intensive operations, environmental concerns, and a significant carbon footprint. There’s a notable shift as it acknowledges the substantial potential of renewable energy solutions, not only to drive operational improvements, but also to address reputational challenges. As Africa embraces renewable energies, it displays an unwavering commitment to responsible resource management and a brighter, more sustainable future. This commitment extends to enhancing its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) credentials, showcasing Africa’s pivotal role in fostering a greener, more equitable, and prosperous global landscape.
Embracing renewable energy mitigates reputational issues related to environmental sustainability, social impact, and ethical concerns by reducing carbon emissions and promoting cleaner practices. Africa’s commitment to sustainable and responsible mining enhances the standing and credibility of its mining companies in the eyes of stakeholders and the public. By reducing their carbon footprint, these companies attract environmentally-conscious investors and gain a competitive edge in a global market increasingly focused on sustainability.
Addressing ethical concerns with the move to renewable energy in mining also aligns with Africa’s broader goals of sustainable development. Renewables improve access to energy for local communities, foster economic growth, and contribute to job creation, elevating the quality of life for individuals across the continent.
Powering positive disruption
Industry leaders have long been calling for change and disruption in order for the African mining industry to move forward. Now, with the inclusion of numerous renewable energy companies in the FT’s list of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies, these companies are putting that change and disruption into practice. Transformation is sweeping through the African mining industry, with renewable energies taking a pivotal role in shaping a progressive and sustainable future. Our team will be at the South African Mining Indaba from 5 to 8 February 2024. Please get in touch with Jessica Shelver should you or your company wish to discuss how Digitalis can support and promote your ESG objectives
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We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email webrequests@digitalis.com
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to webrequests@digitalis.com