West Africa Energy Summit opens in Ghana
By Kabir Yusuf, Accra, Ghana – December 2, 2025
“The Summit provides a strategic platform to mobilise investment and deepen collaboration across West Africa in line with the ECOWAS Integration agenda and Ghana’s own vision of becoming a regional hub,” said Ghana’s Minister of Energy and Green transition, John Jinapo.
Top government officials, innovators, policymakers, industry leaders, and partners gathered in Ghana on Tuesday to showcase investment opportunities and regional energy integration developments set to transform the region by 2030.
The gathering brings together energy leaders committed to shaping a resilient and sustainable energy future for the West African region and the continent of Africa as a whole.
The leaders are gathered at the West Africa Energy Cooperation Summit, which commenced on Tuesday in Accra, Ghana.
The summit is organised by Energy Net, an organisation facilitating discussion, investments and collaborative dialogues on power generation. The event is being hosted by EnergyNet in collaboration with Ghana’s Ministry of Energy and Green Transition. The African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) joins as Lead Sponsor, alongside Endeavour Energy and Denham Capital as Sponsors, underscoring their commitment to driving sustainable energy investments and regional cooperation across Africa.
“Hosting WAECS reflects Ghana’s enduring commitment to regional energy cooperation, sustainable development and just energy transition,” said Ghana’s Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapo.
“The Summit provides a strategic platform to mobilise investment and deepen collaboration across West Africa in line with the ECOWAS Integration agenda and Ghana’s own vision of becoming a regional hub.
WAECS offers an exceptional opportunity for both local and international stakeholders to explore emerging energy investment prospects in renewables, gas to power, regional interconnectivity and digitalisation while facilitating new partnerships and strengthening existing alliances.
“Bringing together such a diverse and influential energy community under one roof will help galvanise action towards concrete transformational outcomes for the sector,” Mr Jinapo said.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Portfolio Manager and Head of Corporate Development at Energy Net, Abdoulaye Sylla, noted that West Africa deserves energy at the height of its aspirations.
“From strengthening the power sector and expanding renewable generation, to improving efficiency and investing in new technologies, the choices we make these next 48 hours will determine our competitiveness and our climate resilience for decades to come,” Mr Sylla said.
He added that the summit is more than an exchange of ideas. “It is a call to action. It is an opportunity to forge partnerships, confront challenges with realism and creativity, and accelerate the transition to a diversified energy mix that supports inclusive development.”
“Together, we must explore how innovation, investment, and sound policy can unlock Ghana’s full energy potential,” Mr Sylla said, calling on participants to challenge assumptions and share solutions that can drive lasting impact.
Speakers at the summit highlighted the continent’s vast untapped potential, with some executives outlining ambitious expansion plans.
Global foreign direct investment into electricity, crucial to industrialising swaths of the world’s second-largest continent, slumped to $10 billion in the first half of 2025. That’s down from an already modest $22 billion in each of the past two years, according to a Bloomberg report.
Over the next two days in Accra, discussions will be centred on financing and de-risking clean energy projects, advancing regional power trade and transmission infrastructure, and accelerating private sector participation in off-grid and distributed energy markets.
The summit hopes to mobilise finance and support deeper collaboration across the ECOWAS regional integration agenda and Ghana’s ambition to be a regional energy distribution hub.
It also hopes to provide a platform for stakeholders to explore opportunities in renewables, gas-to-power, regional interconnectivity, and digitalisation of energy systems.
