Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the implementation of the Developing Countries Trading Scheme in Africa on the UK's renewables industry; and what plans she has for developing partnerships between UK companies working in renewables and their African counterparts.

The Developing Countries Trading Scheme supports the UK renewables industry by allowing duty-free imports on everything but arms from 33 Least Developed Countries in Africa.

In addition, the UK Global Tariff allows duty-free imports of raw materials such as cobalt, nickel and graphite from all countries, including those in Africa.

We are supporting partnerships between UK and African firms in renewables. Through the Africa Energy Forum in June, we brought together UK investors and exporters and African governments in renewables and the 2024 UK Africa Investment Summit will further develop commercial partnerships including in renewables.