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Financing Electricity Access in Africa
…insights into how investment evolves to reach universal access – quantifying the scale of private and public financing required as well as the affordability challenges across the continent.This report comes at a time when the international community is mobilising to provide additional financial support to tackle this key issue, under South Africa’s leadership of the G20, Brazil’s COP30 Presidency and the Mission 300 initiative. The IEA’s analysis underscores how international finance, resources and technical expertise must be strategically directed to drive the electricity access transformation needed across the continent, supporting Africa’s economic, social and environmental goals.
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The Future of Electricity in the Middle East and North Africa
Electricity demand in the MENA region This study analyses electricity demand in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and its evolution to 2035. MENA has long been a cornerstone of global energy supply. But the region is fast becoming a central character in the story of global energy demand, particularly that of electricity use. Rapid population growth, urbanisation, and rising temperatures are driving up electricity demand. Since 2000, MENA has become one of the top contributors to global electricity demand growth. The region’s climate, characterised by extreme heat and water scarcity, implies that reliable and resilient electricity…
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South Africa
Coal is the mainstay of the South African energy system, meeting around 70% of installed power generation capacity. The 2019 Integrated Resource Plan however sets out a long-term diversification of the power mix by 2030 and moves towards lightening the carbon footprint of the energy sector while meeting growing energy demand and ensuring a socio-economically just transition. While the options to diversify the country's electricity mix appear diverse, the affordability of electricity supply looms as a key concern and a potential constraint on diversification. The structure of consumption and of spending on electricity is skewed towards higher…
- Overview
- Energy mix
- Emissions
- Electricity
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+ 5 pages
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Universal Access to Clean Cooking in Africa
Progress update and roadmap for implementation Clean cooking access is a defining challenge for Africa’s prosperity. While the number of people without access to clean cooking has halved globally since 2010, the number in sub-Saharan Africa continues to rise. This harms health, economic development, and the environment – contributing to 815 000 premature deaths annually and significant deforestation.In a new report, Universal Access to Clean Cooking in Africa: Progress update and roadmap to implementation, the International Energy Agency (IEA) provides an updated picture of where things stand today, where efforts are gaining ground, and where urgent action is…
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Stepping Up the Value Chain in Africa
Minerals, materials and manufacturing This report explores key opportunities for African countries to step up the value chain in the growing global market for energy technologies, identifying opportunities beyond a role centred around extraction and mining to one more focused on mineral beneficiation, material production and technology manufacturing. These opportunities would enable Africa to retain a greater share of the economic value generated across energy technology supply chains, and would simultaneously contribute to global efforts to enhance supply chain diversification and resilience.The economic benefits of the new energy economy are currently distributed very unevenly. Emerging markets and developing economies…
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Global Hydrogen Review 2026 Africa
Hydrogen use in Africa reached 3.1 Mt in 2024, about 3% of the global total. Hydrogen production accounted for about 6% of the region’s gas demand and 2% of regional CO2 emissions. Hydrogen use is concentrated in 6 countries (out of 54), with Egypt representing nearly half, followed by Algeria (20%), Nigeria (17%), South Africa (5%), Libya (5%) and Equatorial Guinea (3%). Ammonia production accounted for nearly three-quarters of hydrogen demand.Today, only 6 kt of low-emissions hydrogen are produced in Africa, exclusively from renewables. The hydrogen project pipeline to 2030 has 31 projects, which could allow increasing…
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World Energy Investment 2025 Africa
…than 1 billion people without clean cooking. Over the past decade roughly half of energy investment in Africa has been in oil and gas, primarily made by private companies with a view to export. Meanwhile, spending on clean energy remained relatively flat at less than USD 30 billion per year until 2021. Since then, growth has intensified, driven by clean energy investment, especially in low-emissions power. Global technology cost reductions have improved the competitiveness of clean energy and solar PV now represents the least-cost source of power in many African countries. This has led to a tripling of…
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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Case 5. Silk Road fund commitment in African Infrastructure Investment Fund IV
…contribution represents over 5% of the fund’s total size, positioning it as a sizeable sovereign investor among a largely commercial-developmental consortium. The SRF does not take operational control but participates as a limited partner, relying on AIIM’s regional expertise to select and manage assets. This structure reduces project-level concentration risk for the SRF while ensuring alignment with Africa’s growing infrastructure and climate priorities. The model is emblematic of the SRF’s broader approach as a state-owned investment fund. Backed by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (65%), China Investment Corporation (15%), the Export-Impor...
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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Case 4. TFC Solar PV project in South Africa
…build power plants above 100 MW and sell electricity directly to private customers without an issued generation license.The Tubaste Ferrochrome (TFC) solar PV power plant in South Africa’s Limpopo province responds directly to this context. Developed near the TFC smelter in the Burgersfort area, the project will deliver 100 MW of solar PV capacity in two phases: 60 MW in phase I and 40 MW in phase II over two years. It is jointly developed by the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN)’s Africa platform, the China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund) and local partner KONA Holdings Limited…
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Universal Access to Clean Cooking in Africa Outlook for clean cooking in Africa
Off the back burner? Based on today’s policies, investment and market trends, only three African countries are set to reach universal clean cooking access by mid-century. Sub-Saharan Africa could achieve universal coverage by 2040, if countries were to replicate the best historical rates of progress seen in similar countries around the world – a pathway explored in the new Accelerating Clean Cooking and Electricity Services Scenario (ACCESS). It will require 80 million people to gain access annually, or a 4.7 percentage point improvement in access rates each year, comparable to rates of progress seen in Indonesia, Cambodia…
