Africa turns to pension funds to build energy infrastructure

September 17, 2025

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The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) plans to raise $852 million over the next 17 years from commercial banks and pension funds. The move is intended to reduce reliance on inconsistent government funding and help bridge the $5 billion gap in Kenya’s transmission masterplan, Ketraco CEO John Mativo told Business Daily.

  • Some African countries, including Nigeria and South Africa, have used pension funds for power projects. Wider adoption could narrow the funding gap and cut the cost of renewable energy projects.

  • In Kenya, pension funds have traditionally invested heavily in government securities but are now under pressure to diversify into infrastructure. The Energy Act (2019) and PPP Act (2021) have opened the door for this.

  • Our take: Pension funds can help African governments reduce dollar loans, reduce forex risks, and lower financing costs for energy projects… Read more (2 min)

Norway-based renewable energy impact investor Empower New Energy has signed a $2.5 million agreement to develop a 4 MWp solar plant for Abyssinia Group of Industries (AGI), East Africa’s largest steel producer. The deal adds to three existing solar projects (5 MWp) already powering AGI’s Awasi steel plant, increasing the total capacity to 9 MWp.

  • Commercial and industrial customers are increasingly turning to self-generation as grid power becomes more expensive, already cutting at least 15% of demand from Kenya’s national grid. 

  • The Electricity Sector Association of Kenya (ESAK) projects this trend will continue, with captive power capacity expected to reach 1 GW by 2030, threatening Kenya’s utility with the loss of its best customers.

  • Our take: Companies that adopt renewables will gain an edge over competitors and could capture premium export markets… Read more (2 min)

South Africa’s rooftop solar installations have reached 7,345MW, surpassing all the renewable energy power utility Eskom gets from independent power producers (7,172MW). This is a 23% increase over the past year. It highlights the rapid decentralisation of the country's energy landscape, largely fuelled by commercial and industrial uptake.

  • Despite Eskom successfully containing its load-shedding, consumer motivations have now evolved from pure outage avoidance to long-term economic planning in view of tariff increases next year.

  • Grid operators confront a challenging daily balancing act. As most customers don’t have batteries, Eskom must swiftly boost power station output at sunset to match demand spikes, making it a costly manoeuvre.

  • Our take: The market has taken energy security into its own hands, driven by economics and necessity.… Read more (2 min)

Release by Scatec kicks off construction of solar and BESS plant in Cameroon

Events

🗓️ Participate in a webinar on Sierra Leone’s energy access (Sep 23)

🗓️ Be at the African Energy Week 2025: Invest In Africa Energy event (Sep 23)

🗓️ Meet experts at the infrastructure financing summit in Zambia (Oct 28)

Jobs

👩🏻‍💻 Become d.light’s Group Head of Logistics (Kenya)

👨🏻‍💻 Join Engie as a Biodiversity Monitor (South Africa)

💼 Apply for Scatec’s Environmental & Social Manager (ESG ) role (South Africa)

Various 

🔌 Egypt focuses on a 65% private sector contribution by 2025/2026 

🤝🏻 Jinko Solar, SAPVIA collaborate to advance green energy in South Africa

⚡ JA Solar provides  modules for the 100MW Kabwe solar power plant in Zambia

Seen on LinkedIn 

Alex Vassev, Strategic Counsel at the Nexus of Law, Energy and Trade, says, “The mining sector remains best placed to catalyse the next wave of energy investment”