Tech and Africa's Energy Crisis: Beyond Solar (Special Edition)
Focusing on Africa's tech problems from ground zero❗❗
Heyoo, Dear Innovator 💡
Everybody and their favourite aunt knows that weekends are for resting and re-strategizing. After a long and hard week of doing the Lord’s work, there’s nothing better than a cool environment to just let your hair down, drop your shoulders and stretch out, as you plan your moves over the next two days.
The thing is, you can’t exactly rest if you have to do it in a hot room and you can’t exactly re-strategize either when all your work tools and gadgets are out of power.
Enter: Africa’s Electricity Problem! 🤔
Power outages remain a bottleneck for Africa’s tech growth, and while solar power has been in focus as a quick, albeit expensive, solution to this issue, recently, new angles have emerged, in a bid to resolve this continent-wide crisis.
In this today newsletters, we’ll:
Dive into how innovators are tackling Africa’s energy access challenges this year.
Highlight groundbreaking projects and what they mean for scaling up tech across the continent.
keep scrolling 👇👇
The Energy Crisis: A Tech Roadblock
Over the years, Africa’s tech growth has been beset with problems on all sides, but the most significant of them all seems to be power outages.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), over 40% of Africans (600 million people) lacked electricity access in 2022. Our continent’s energy mix tells even more of the story. We currently depend on 74% fossil fuels, with low-carbon sources like hydro drawing up a 19% usage, wind and solar power is at 4.5%, and finally nuclear power lagging behind at 1.2% usage.
It goes without saying that this shaky foundation, so far, has been struggling to support the growing demand of data centres, electric vehicles (EVs) and other new-age tech needs. A change may need to happen in earnest, as fulfilling some of these demands may be critical drivers behind the next wave of Africa’s digital and mobility future.
Going ahead of their clime’s time, some innovators have turned to small-scale nuclear power and hydrogen energy to bridge the gap. Are we on the brink of an energy revolution in Africa with these solutions, or is there still a long road ahead? 🤔
Beyond Solar: Two Game-Changing Innovations
1. Small-Scale Nuclear Power:
Ghana’s NuScale E2 Centre was launched in January 2025. This pioneering facility in sub-Saharan Africa is a collaboration with NuScale Power, a U.S. company, which specializes in small modular reactors (SMRs). These reactors, with capacities up to 300 MW, are factory-built and scalable, offering a safer, more affordable alternative to traditional nuclear plants.
NuScale’s design is the first SMR approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), potentially streamlining adoption in Africa. The E2 Center trains engineers and tests feasibility for Ghana’s energy needs.
Likewise, South Africa, with its nuclear legacy, has been exploring SMRs to replace its coal-heavy grid, which generates over 80% of its power. The government’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan mentions SMRs as a future option, although no concrete projects have been announced yet.
Reports have it that Kenya aims to build its first nuclear plant by 2035. Although they are traditionally eyeing large reactors, SMRs could shift their focus due to lower costs. Nigeria, with its Atomic Energy Commission, also has a roadmap for 4,000 MW of nuclear power by 2035, and SMRs have been slowly gaining traction as a practical step. Morocco and Algeria have also signaled interest in nuclear research, and may potentially be pivoting to SMRs.
SMRs could anchor Africa’s energy mix with consistent, carbon-free power, unlike the intermittent renewables that are currently in use. A single 300 MW SMR could power 300,000 homes or a mid-sized data centre. However, some of the challenges include high upfront costs ($3-5 billion per reactor), regulatory gaps (only South Africa has a mature nuclear framework), and public fears especially ‘cos of the Fukushima nuclear accident that happened in Japan.
2. Hydrogen Power: Clean Energy Projects Across Africa
Hydrogen power is all about creating clean fuel (called green hydrogen) using renewable energy like solar and wind. There are currently some projects in Africa that are trying to utilize this, each with their own goals—some for export, others for local use:
Namibia’s Hyphen Hydrogen Energy Project:
This is a huge $9.4 billion project backed by German investors. The plan is to produce 300,000 tons of green hydrogen every year by 2030, powered by solar and wind. Most of it will be exported (likely as ammonia to Europe), but there are also ideas to use some locally for transport, like trucks or buses. It’s a big step for Namibia to become a hydrogen leader!Morocco’s Green Hydrogen Plans: They aim to hit 1 GW of hydrogen production by 2030
Mauritania’s AMAN Project: They aim to produce 1.7 million tonnes of hydrogen annually)
These projects could make Africa a hydrogen hotspot, bringing in billions from exports while cutting reliance on fuels like coal or diesel. Locally, hydrogen can power industries and transport, but it’s a long-term game and building the infrastructure (like pipelines and ports) will take time and money.
The Big Picture: Are We on the Brink of an Energy Revolution?
Africa’s energy crisis needs big solutions, and innovators are stepping up in several ways, but making these ideas work will take a lot. Experts say Africa needs $200 billion every year by 2030 to fix the energy access problem. So far, only $30 billion has been invested. Others challenges like unstable politics, missing skills (like not enough engineers for nuclear projects), and worries about safety, have contributed to slowing things down.
The technology is ready, and the need is clear. With enough money and teamwork to train more workers, Africa could jump to a future with clean and reliable power by 2040 and knowing this may provide a new focus point for a lot of Innovators.
With power and electricity, we’re almost there—just not quite yet.