Askwar Hilonga

An estimated $8.6 trillion of what lies under African ground is unmined, much of it stranded without the transport and power to move it. At AEF, the Energy for Growth Hub's Gyude Moore, AFC's Ziyanda Mpakama and Transnet's Andile Sangqu set out the case for shared, open-access routes serving more than one mine.

Africa has more countries than any other continent, and a power system fragmented along every border between them. At AEF 2026, the AfDB's Wale Shonibare, Africa GreenCo's Lion Mashiri and Ndola Energy's Adrian Silwimba argued that continental-scale projects only become financeable when electricity can be traded as freely as it is generated.

Kwama Energy's Ilute solar project reached financial close in January as what its chairman Sipho Phiri calls Africa's first non-recourse merchant power station. He spoke to ENN about why bankability, not sunlight or wind, is the real constraint on Zambian power, and why proving one model matters more than any single plant.

A four-hour test announced last November ran the region's grids as a single synchronous network for the first time, and the power pool behind it wants that permanent by mid-year. The World Economic Forum's Rakesh Bohra and Justine Roche set out the reforms, and the $36 billion pipeline, asking investors to pay attention.

Volatile prices and a shifting geopolitical map have not cooled Africa's appetite for gas. At AEF, Ghana's Sulemana Abubakari, Genesis Energy's Melissa Sikwila and Siemens Energy's Marcus Nelle argued that gas remains the baseload an industrialising continent leans on, and that the harder work is building the value chain to use it at home.

The capital to build Africa's energy system is partly already on the continent, held in its pension and sovereign funds. At AEF, the Public Investment Corporation's Zama Khanyile and the Eskom pension fund's Phathutshedzo Madogo set out why that money struggles to reach early-stage projects, and what would change it.

Africa's new generation is outrunning the lines that carry it, and governments are short of balance sheet to build more. At AEF, Africa50's Moshood Abolade and Nabil Saïmi and Kenya's Kefa Seda set out a privately financed, programmatic model for the grid, proven in Chile, Brazil, India and Peru.

The proposed Batoka Gorge Hydro-Electric Scheme has moved into a new phase, with Zambia and Zimbabwe seeking experienced development partners to deliver a project that could add significant power capacity to the region. Speaking at AEF, the Zambezi River Authority and Southern African Power Pool highlighted the need for investment to turn the Zambezi’s existing potential into electricity for a market facing continued supply challenges.