Kenya has made history as the first African country to host the Africa Energy Forum, which has previously taken place outside the continent. The 25th edition of the four-day event, organized by EnergyNet Ltd., was held in Nairobi, between June 20 and June 23. Energy ministers, policymakers, exhibitors, and energy experts from around the world attended the trade show.
One the opening day, Kenyan President William Ruto emphasized the country's commitment to renewable energy and highlighted the implementation of a solar project covering 14 underserved counties. He noted Kenya's progress in achieving its clean energy goals and called for further investment in the renewable sector to avoid reliance on fossil fuels.
Kadri Nassiep – executive director of energy for the city of Cape Town, South Africa – discussed the importance of political will in enabling successful energy transitions. He talked about efforts to mitigate load shedding through solar and storage projects and emphasized the need for political support to drive renewable energy initiatives.
Chris Antonopoulos, CEO of Lekela Advisors, addressed the financing challenges in Africa's renewable energy sector. He noted the lack of financeable projects and the concentration of capital investment in a few countries, while calling for a pipeline of viable projects to attract investment.
Popular content
Daniel Schroth, director of renewable energy at the African Development Bank (AfDB), noted the AfDB's significant investment in renewable energy and the need to distribute capital more equitably across the African continent. He emphasized the importance of government guarantees, long-term regulatory frameworks, and favorable off-taker requirements to secure financing for renewable energy projects.
Overall, the discussions at the Africa Energy Forum underscored the potential for renewable energy development in Africa, the need for political will, and the importance of financeable projects and supportive regulatory frameworks to drive a sustainable energy transition.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
1 comment
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.