Finance

Gridworks And The Government Of Uganda Announce Pilot Project For Private Investment In The Country’s Electricity Transmission Sector

Each has been identified as a priority by Uganda’s national transmission utility (UETCL) in its latest Grid Development Plan. Gridworks will develop and finance the project – providing up to US$90m equity funding – with Siemens undertaking the upgrade work on the four substations. Investment in the transmission sector is critical to realise the Ugandan government’s development […]

Financing Challenges and Opportunities in Africa

Lion’s Head Global Partners Managing Director James Doree speaks to Bill Lumley about progress in funding Africa’s energy transition. How do Lion’s Head funds play a role in Africa’s energy transition? It comes down partly to what we mean by energy transition. Our funds all have the ethos of targeting an issue and being able […]

Making Just Energy Transition in South Africa Happen

A commitment to long-term decarbonisation in South Africa is set to reinvigorate investment opportunities in the country’s energy sector. Eskom Holdings Just Energy Transition General Manager Mandy Rambharos talks to Bill Lumley. What are the key challenges and opportunities for Just Energy transition in South Africa? With coal-fired utilities accounting for 88% of South Africa’s […]

Africa Seeks more Far-Reaching Climate Policy and Finance

The COP26 climate change summit fell short of delivering fully on its promise in terms of support for sustainable energy and other climate change measures in Africa. Can COP27 in Egypt make up for the shortcomings of Glasgow? Many regions of Africa felt the health impacts of the Covid pandemic less strongly than other parts […]

Going Private

IPPs across Africa are growing in size and scale, thanks to their ability to attract a more diverse array of financing. James Gavin reports. Over time, independent power projects (IPPs) have emerged as Africa’s fastest growing energy sector structures, spreading in popularity across borders and meeting with a surfeit of investment as private sector backers […]

Kenya Seeks to Maximise Benefits from ‘Baseload’ Renewables

Kenya’s geothermal and hydropower resources have been major contributors to the country’s success in boosting electricity access rates, but can they play a major role in meeting surging energy demand in the future? Kenya has been one of Africa’s success stories in terms of progress towards the UN global Sustainable Development Goal of achieving universal […]

African Energy Data

Africa’s electricity supply industry gaining momentum despite crises and delays. In common with other industries, Africa’s power sector has suffered major challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in delays, cancelled projects, and new ways of working. Problems remain, but there are indications that some momentum is returning. 2021 marked a low point for new capacity […]

Keeping the Funds Flowing into Africa’s Offgrid Projects

Innovative financing solutions are helping investment to keep flowing into African offgrid renewables projects despite the difficult operating environment. Fresh funding for offgrid solar projects in Africa has been more costly and harder to come by in the last two years than it was prior to the Covid pandemic, but that doesn’t mean investors are […]

Making Egypt a Green Hub

Yehia Zaki talks to Bill Lumley about the way the SCZONE is embracing renewables and its ambitions for becoming a hub for renewable energy products in Africa and the region. Eng. Yehia Zaki is the Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), an Egyptian Authority responsible for the management and the operation of 461 […]

Funds in focus

Attracting institutional investors and pensions funds to Africa’s energy transition remains a challenge in a world in flux. But where there’s a will, there’s usually a way, explains Jackson Foley. The announcement of a new ‘African Energy Transition Bank’ in mid-May has highlighted the problems facing energy financing on the continent. The bank’s two backers, […]

Not by renewables alone

How do renewables stack up against traditional forms of energy in Africa? As Jackson Foley reports, it’s a shifting picture – but don’t count out coal just yet. “Africa is not a country” is the title of a new book seeking to correct foreigners’ views of the continent. Its author wants her international readers to see Africa just as its own peoples see it: huge, varied and facing many different circumstances. Anyone who works in the African energy sector knows this already. There are vast differences between the markets in Egypt and Equatorial Guinea or between Senegal and South Africa. There is no ‘one size fits all solution’ to the continent’s yawning electricity gaps.

William Kamkwamba To Discuss ‘Empowerment And Energy Access’ At The Youth Energy Summit (Yes!)

“Our vision is to empower 100,000 more ‘Williams’ by aef 2029 to close the gap between population growth and energy access. The initiatives are there, the need is there, the entrepreneurs are everywhere and YES! is here to identify them and provide them the tools to succeed…” Harry Gibson, EnergyNet William will be joined by: • Joseph […]

IPP Office Announced as Overall Summit Sponsor of the 2025 Youth Energy Summit (YES!)

The IPP Office, a key institution driving South Africa’s energy transition, has consistently prioritised youth and community development in its work. From delivering large-scale renewable energy projects to fostering job creation and skills development, the Office’s mission goes beyond power generation—it’s about powering people. We’re delighted to announce the IPP Office as the Overall Summit […]

Media Release: Red Rocket Reaches Financial Close for South Africa’s Largest Wind Farm

CAPE TOWN, 13 March 2025 – Red Rocket, a leading renewable energy independent power producer, has reached financial close on the first phase of the Overberg Wind Farm, marking a major milestone in South Africa’s clean energy transition. Adding to Red Rocket’s impressive portfolio of wind farms, Overberg Wind Farm will be the latest in […]

Layton Nenzinane – Chief Financial Officer, Seriti Green Chartered Accountant | A Voice for Africa’s Just Energy Transition

Why I Said Yes to YES! Summit 2025

I grew up in a modest home in Thaba Nchu, a town just outside Bloemfontein in the Free State, as the youngest in a medium-sized family with two older siblings. I was surrounded by love, discipline and hope. But life changed quickly. I lost my mother at six and my father at thirteen. Orphanhood wasn’t […]

Battery Storage

Mulilo Achieves Financial Close on Groundbreaking 75MW Solar Plant in the Northern Cape

De Aar, South Africa – 18 March 2025 Mulilo, a leading independent power producer in South Africa, has successfully reached Financial Close on the Du Plessis Dam Solar PV2 facility, a 105MW (75MWac) solar photovoltaic project near De Aar in the Northern Cape. This landmark project is one of the first in South Africa to […]

Richard Nelson, Coordinator, Power Africa

Speaker presenting at AEF event

Tech & Power Generation

The Energy Debate: Fossil Fuels vs. Renewables in Africa

H.E Honourable Sédiko Douka, Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy & Digitalisation, ECOWAS

H.E Honourable Sédiko Douka, Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy & Digitalisation, ECOWAS

H.E. Honourable Charles Umehai, Deputy Minister for Energy, Republic of Liberia: WA-ECS 2024

H.E. Honourable Charles Umehai, Deputy Minister for Energy, Republic of Liberia: WA-ECS 2024

Abstract image featuring elongated shapes

Joseph Anis, President & CEO, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Gas Power, GE Vernova

View from below of a metal structure

Gqi Raoleka, MD, Pele Green Energy

Ademola Ogunbanjo, Executive Vice President, Oando Clean Energy

Theo Xin, Head of Product & Technology, MEA, Trina Solar