Powering Africa’s renewable
energy transformation

The El Niño-linked drought that parched Southern Africa in 2024 emptied one of the most important pieces of energy infrastructure on the continent. Lake Kariba, which stretches across the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, dropped towards some of its lowest usable levels in years as rainfall across the Zambezi basin dwindled.

British power developer Gridworks recently signed two landmark agreements with the Government of Uganda to begin construction on the Amari Project, widely regarded as Africa’s first independent transmission project to reach this phase.

When New York-based energy firm Hydro-Link partnered last year with Swiss infrastructure group Mitrelli to develop a 1,150-kilometre transmission line between Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the logic behind the investment was difficult to miss.

There are established markets, and then there are conditions that precede them. Africa’s renewable energy sector finds itself suspended between the two – an area where assets have begun to accumulate, but where the mechanisms for scaled capital reallocation remain embryonic.

Africa holds a critical position in the global energy transition – both as a frontier for renewable deployment and as a proving ground for how legal and policy instruments can be used to mobilise capital at scale.

Every driver starts a long journey with the same question: am I prepared for potential issues? The spare tyre is checked, fluids topped up, and the route carefully mapped. Preparation is built in from the start, not improvised when conditions change.

The African energy market is maturing and becoming increasingly de-centralised as renewable energy projects have surged.

“China's manufacturers are pumping out so many solar panels that the resulting global glut has caused prices to tank. Solar panels — 80% of which are made in China — are so cheap that they're now being used to line garden fences in Germany and the Netherlands”.

One of the most emotive subjects in Africa currently is the energy transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy, with the mining and resources sectors at the sharp end of the debate.

The urgent need to combat climate change has thrust renewable energy into the global spotlight. As governments, businesses, and individuals grapple with the challenges of reducing carbon emissions, the role of financial institutions in supporting and propelling the renewable energy transition is becoming increasingly prominent.

Absa recently released its annual financial results and from this, there are two important numbers to highlight. The first being that Absa is working on power projects representing over 2000MWs and the second being that the bank has R45bn in new power projects in the pipeline.

With the African minerals and energy sector flourishing with possibility, one can’t help but draw parallels with the late 1880’s when the first gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand – in Johannesburg, South Africa – that kick-started the “Gold Rush”.