The gas giants
North Africa
Near-universal access, dominated by natural gas. Algeria and Libya export to Europe; Egypt became a regional gas hub after Zohr. Morocco is the renewable outlier, home to the Noor Ouarzazate CSP complex.
Insights
The sector in five reads
Who generates the power, what it costs, why capital is expensive, and which technologies are about to matter. Distilled from the Energy in Africa report.
~250 GW
Total installed capacity
vs >1,100 GW in the US
600m
People without electricity
Sub-Saharan Africa
$110bn
Annual investment
IEA estimate; needs to double
<3%
Share of global energy CO₂
Of a 1.4-billion population
Regional profiles
Five very different energy stories on one continent.
Oil, gas and the WAPP
West Africa
Nigeria is the continent's largest oil producer yet often delivers under 5 GW to more than 200 million people. The West African Power Pool aims to trade power from gas-rich Nigeria and hydro-rich Guinea and Ghana across borders.
Geothermal and hydro frontier
East Africa
Kenya is a global geothermal pioneer with nearly half its electricity from steam. Ethiopia's 5.15 GW GERD is Africa's largest hydro plant. The region is also the hotspot for pay-as-you-go off-grid solar.
The coal dilemma
Southern Africa
Eskom runs one of the world's largest coal fleets while loadshedding persists. A Just Energy Transition backed by climate finance is shifting the region toward abundant solar and wind.
The sleeping giant
Central Africa
The DRC holds the world's greatest hydropower potential at Inga Falls — theoretically enough to power half the continent — yet has some of the lowest electrification rates anywhere.
The main players
State utilities still carry the load; IPPs and off-grid firms are moving fastest.
Eskom
South Africa~46.7 GW, mostly coal; ~45% of all electricity used on the continent.
Sonatrach
AlgeriaAfrica's largest company by revenue; major gas supplier to Europe.
NNPC Limited
NigeriaDriving gas-to-power, incl. the AKK pipeline and 4,600 MW of new gas plants.
KenGen
Kenya~1.9 GW; global leader in Rift Valley geothermal via the Olkaria complex.
Ethiopian Electric Power
EthiopiaOperator of the 5.15 GW GERD and a growing regional exporter.
ACWA Power
IPPNoor Ouarzazate plus large solar and wind under South Africa's REIPPPP.
Scatec
IPPSolar, wind and hydro; containerised 'Release' solar-plus-storage kits.
Sun King / BBOXX
Off-gridPay-as-you-go solar home systems reaching over 100 million people.
What electricity costs
Levelised cost of new generation, and what households and businesses actually pay.
LCOE, USD per kWh
Utility-scale solar PV$0.04–$0.08
Down over 80% since 2010
Onshore wind$0.05–$0.09
Site and wind-resource dependent
Large hydro$0.03–$0.05
Cheap if the CAPEX can be financed
Natural gas (domestic)$0.06–$0.09
Rises to $0.12+ on imported LNG
Coal$0.07–$0.10
Rising cost of capital erodes the case
Diesel self-generation$0.30–$0.50
The 'reliability premium' businesses pay
| Country | Household | Business |
|---|---|---|
Ethiopia Among the lowest globally; hydro subsidies | $0.003 | $0.005 |
Sudan Heavily subsidised | $0.004 | $0.006 |
Egypt Gradual subsidy removal | $0.04–0.06 | $0.08 |
Nigeria Band-based pricing | $0.05–0.12 | $0.15 |
South Africa Rising to cover Eskom debt | $0.15–0.20 | $0.12 |
Kenya Geothermal, hydro and thermal mix | $0.18–0.22 | $0.16 |
Sierra Leone Expensive thermal rentals | $0.23 | $0.34 |
Cape Verde Island geography, imported fuel | $0.33 | $0.30 |
Why it is hard
The barriers are financial and institutional long before they are technical.
The cost of capital
A solar project financed at 2–3% in Germany can face 15–20% in Zambia. For capital-intensive plants, a few points of interest decide whether a project exists at all.
Currency mismatch
Debt is priced in dollars while revenue arrives in local currency. Devaluation can make a solvent utility insolvent overnight.
Bankability of utilities
An IPP needs a power purchase agreement, but a PPA with an insolvent utility is not bankable without sovereign guarantees or DFI liquidity support.
Fragile grids
Thin spinning reserve and ageing lines mean national grids can and do collapse — Nigeria's has done so dozens of times in recent years.
Hydro-climate risk
East and Central Africa lean on hydro. Prolonged drought in Zambia and Zimbabwe has cut generation sharply, exposing the energy-water nexus.
Policy volatility
Energy assets are 25-year bets. Frequent ministerial changes and shifting priorities stall projects for years.
The frontier
Where the next decade of African energy is being built.
Green hydrogen
Morocco, Mauritania, Namibia and Egypt are positioning as exporters. Namibia's Hyphen project targets 300,000 tonnes a year.
Storage
Battery costs fell ~90% in a decade. Eskom's BESS fleet and pumped storage at Drakensberg and Ingula firm up variable renewables.
Power pools
SAPP trades daily; WAPP is building the North-Core link; EAPP moves Ethiopian hydro to Kenya and Djibouti.
Mini-grids and leapfrogging
Just as mobile skipped landlines, decentralised solar-plus-battery mini-grids may skip the centralised grid for dispersed rural demand.
Nuclear and SMRs
Koeberg remains the only operating plant; Egypt is building El Dabaa (4 × 1,200 MW), while Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya study small modular reactors.
Smart grids
Prepaid smart meters cut theft and billing errors; SCADA upgrades and demand forecasting reduce reliance on costly peaking plants.