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- African power utilities walk conflicting paths
African power utilities walk conflicting paths
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 | The Niger government is taking full ownership of its national power utility company, NIGELEC, to give the country, which has been dealing with regular power cuts, control of its power sector. This is opposite to what we are seeing in other African countries like South Africa, Zambia, and Kenya, which are privatising their electricity sector for better services. |
Privatisation of national power utilities offers a way out for financially struggling African governments, burdened with ageing power infrastructure. Handing these utilities over to the private sector injects new capital and facilitates much-needed infrastructure upgrades.
However, privatisation also brings challenges. Private companies typically need to charge cost-reflective tariffs, which are higher than government-subsidised rates. Still, better service and reliability in the long term are likely.
Our take: Privatisation of the power sector needs supportive government polices to thrive… Read more (2 min)
 | South Africa maintained its leading position in the Renewables Rising ranking of African countries for the third consecutive month. In June, the country announced new projects under development totalling 2,864 MW as well as 4,085 MWh of battery systems. South Africa is also unbundling its electricity sector, with Cape Town at the forefront of these reforms. |
We rank countries based on the number and size of projects, funding numbers and amounts, jobs advertised in the renewable energy sector, and policy changes.
Three new countries joined the Top 10 this month: Ivory Coast, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, replacing, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Ghana.
Our take: Investors find renewables appealing with high potential for returns… Read more (2 min)
 | This week's job opportunities largely comprise technical roles for utility-scale renewable energy projects across Africa. Of 100 + listings, over 30 are engineering and technical positions. Africa's limited current solar and wind installed capacities indicate significant growth potential for these roles as the renewable energy sector matures. |
South Africa, with leaders such as Scatec, EDF Renewables, and SOLA Group, continues to dominate large-scale, grid-tied renewable energy projects in southern Africa. East Africa ranks second, focusing on off-grid renewable energy.
Notably, South Africa's first featured waste-to-energy role highlights the growing interest in such initiatives across the continent. Senegal recently announced a 20 MW waste-to-energy project for electricity generation.
Damilola Hamid Balogun, CEO of the Youth Sustainable Development Network, speaks at the recently concluded Youth Energy Summit in South Africa
Events
🗓️ Participate in a webinar on PV modules and harsh weather (Jun 31)
🗓️ Sign up for a webinar on solar energy licensing by EPRA (Jul 2)
🗓️ Be at the Power & Elec Uganda 2025 event (Jul 10)
Various
🤝 SolarChef secures pre-investment support from Invest International
💰 Absa CIB provides $88.9 million in funding for the FE Overberg Wind Project
⚡ FMO takes lead as senior lender for Ivory Coast’s new 50 MW solar plant
Seen on LinkedIn
Sarvesh Suri, Regional Industry Director at International Finance Corporation, says, “Without strong national and cross-border infrastructure, Africa can’t fully realise the benefits of its growing clean energy generation capacity.”