News

How development finance can increase energy access in Africa – and how governments can accelerate this

BII CEO, Leslie Maasdorp, outlines some of the steps that could help bring the benefits of electricity to 300 million more Africans by the end of the decade. Energy is the foundation of development – in Africa, and globally. Sustainable prosperity involves many things – good healthcare, digital technologies, efficient transportation, decent jobs and more […]

Robust Transmission Infrastructure Is the Linchpin for Addressing Africa’s Energy Crisis

By Sarvesh Suri, IFC Regional Industry Director for Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Africa The progress in power generation across Africa has been encouraging: 26 GW of renewables-based generation capacity added in the last 10 years, according to the Renewable Energy Market Analysis report. But millions of people remain in the dark as population growth and […]

What Africa needs from banks to achieve its energy transition

By Rentia van Tonder, Head of Power, and Aadil Cajee, Head of Energy & Infrastructure Finance at Standard Bank CIB The future of energy in Africa will not be determined by policy alone. Nor will it be unlocked by capital in isolation. If Africa is to achieve a secure, affordable and lower-carbon energy system, financial […]

Africa data centres power up

Data centre operators are building capacity to serve a fast-growing digital economy Around the world, data centres are a hot new asset class. Investment in these specialised warehouses, which store, process and deliver every byte of our digital lives, is forecast to more than double in the next seven years[1]. This is thanks to an […]

Chisamba Solar Project increases Stanbic’s Energy Sector Financing to USD223.7m in 6 months

…as GreenCo gets ready to start onward supply of power to First Quantum Minerals 27 May 2025, Lusaka: Stanbic Bank says its financing of three key energy projects in the last six months is amounting to a USD223.7 million with a total contribution of 660MW to the grid, demonstrating the Bank’s clear commitment to the […]

Bringing light to places that need it

Gqi Raoleka, CEO of Pele Green Energy, explains how he and his colleagues are building an independent power producer that channels capital, talent and innovation into tangible opportunities What makes Pele Green Energy different? Gqi Raoleka: We were among the first independent power producers (IPPs) in South Africa in 2009 and we’ve been developing and […]

Robust Transmission Infrastructure Is the Linchpin for Addressing Africa’s Energy Crisis

By Sarvesh Suri, IFC Regional Industry Director for Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Africa The progress in power generation across Africa has been encouraging: 26 GW of renewables-based generation capacity added in the last 10 years, according to the Renewable Energy Market Analysis report. But millions of people remain in the dark as population growth and […]

A mission to bring power to the people

Multilateral donors have earmarked $55 billion in concessional funding for innovative projects that will deliver electricity to an additional 300 million people in Africa by 2030 The figures speak for themselves. Africa represents 20 per cent of the global population but only 3 per cent of global electricity use, according to the African Development Bank […]

BII, AfDB and EBRD support pioneering solar and battery storage project in Egypt with US$ 479 million loan to Obelisk Solar Power

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are providing a total of US$ 479.1 million to Obelisk Solar Power SAE, a special-purpose vehicle incorporated in Egypt and owned by Scatec ASA. This financing will support the development of a 1.1 GW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant […]

South Africa’s Overberg: turbo-charging wind power

South Africa’s Overberg project is set to become the continent’s biggest wind farm. As the final contracts are signed, we look at a potential model for the future of clean, low-cost power in Africa In early June this year, the story of renewables in Africa changed. The finalisation of the second stage of the Overberg […]

What Africa needs from banks to achieve its energy transition

By Rentia van Tonder, Head of Power, and Aadil Cajee, Head of Energy & Infrastructure Finance at Standard Bank CIB 04 June 2025: The future of energy in Africa will not be determined by policy alone. Nor will it be unlocked by capital in isolation. If Africa is to achieve a secure, affordable and lower-carbon […]

How South Africa is rewriting the rules on power supply

South Africa’s electric power network has long been plagued by blackouts and supply reductions, known as ‘load shedding’. But these disruptions are – finally – becoming a thing of the past South Africans learnt the meaning of ‘load shedding’ the hard way. Chronic underinvestment in power generation and grid infrastructure has led to years of […]

How development finance can increase energy access in Africa – and how governments can accelerate this

BII CEO, Leslie Maasdorp, outlines some of the steps that could help bring the benefits of electricity to 300 million more Africans by the end of the decade. Energy is the foundation of development – in Africa, and globally. Sustainable prosperity involves many things – good healthcare, digital technologies, efficient transportation, decent jobs and more […]

Robust Transmission Infrastructure Is the Linchpin for Addressing Africa’s Energy Crisis

By Sarvesh Suri, IFC Regional Industry Director for Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Africa The progress in power generation across Africa has been encouraging: 26 GW of renewables-based generation capacity added in the last 10 years, according to the Renewable Energy Market Analysis report. But millions of people remain in the dark as population growth and […]

What Africa needs from banks to achieve its energy transition

By Rentia van Tonder, Head of Power, and Aadil Cajee, Head of Energy & Infrastructure Finance at Standard Bank CIB The future of energy in Africa will not be determined by policy alone. Nor will it be unlocked by capital in isolation. If Africa is to achieve a secure, affordable and lower-carbon energy system, financial […]

Africa data centres power up

Data centre operators are building capacity to serve a fast-growing digital economy Around the world, data centres are a hot new asset class. Investment in these specialised warehouses, which store, process and deliver every byte of our digital lives, is forecast to more than double in the next seven years[1]. This is thanks to an […]

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

aef 2025: Accelerating Partnerships to Develop Africa’s Energy Markets

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