GLOBAL AFRICAN HYDROGEN SUMMIT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

With more than 600 million people across Africa lacking access to electricity, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Africa will need to double its electricity generation capacity by 2040 to meet growing demand. The African continent has been identified as a prime source for renewable energy exports to regions seeking to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and meet net-zero targets.

Most development banks, bilateral aid, export credit agencies, and development finance institutions have a clear mandate to facilitate the energy transition. Many of these institutions offer preferable terms to projects that help achieve net-zero targets. Additionally, numerous climate investment funds and venture capital funds are dedicated to green energy investments, including throughout the development stage.

Held under the esteemed patronage of the Government of Namibia and endorsed by the Ministry of Mines & Energy of Namibia, the inaugural Global African Hydrogen Summit is scheduled to take place from 3 – 5 September 2024 in Windhoek, Namibia.

At the heart of the Global African Hydrogen Summit is the mission to drive critical investments and financing into bankable green energy projects across Africa. As a critical pillar of the Summit, the Project Investment Roundtables will play a pivotal role in accelerating deal-making from origination through to bankability to transaction to financial close in sectors spanning the Hydrogen, Renewables (inc. Wind, Solar, Hydro, Geothermal and Biomass), Agriculture, Mining, Power, Infrastructure, Heavy Industry, Hard to Abate, Transportation, and Mobility.

Fostering opportunities for investments, financing and partnerships, the Project Investment Roundtables are exclusive closed-door boardroom investor meetings where project developers will have unique and direct engagement with financiers, investors, government officials, energy developers, offtakers, and other critical stakeholders, to assess the feasibility of diverse and groundbreaking projects from across the continent.

For a green energy project in Africa to be considered fully bankable, it must reach specific milestones or have a well-defined roadmap. Investors, both equity and debt, will assess technical and commercial risk factors before committing financing. Energy transition projects present unique challenges compared to traditional fossil fuel-based projects, particularly in an African setting.

Whilst key technical risks span scale up of technology, integration and interfaces, availability of supporting infrastructure and contracting strategy, commercial risk considerations include customer offtake, available market, pricing of energy transition products and sponsor support.

Ahead of financial commitment, investors will also require an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) completed in line with national and international standards.

The Global African Hydrogen Summit call for bankable African green energy projects closes on Friday 12 July after which point all projects will be reviewed by the Summit’s Investor Board. The 15 strong Investor Board, represented by organisations including Climate Fund Managers, Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and Rand Merchant Bank, will provide thorough assessment of each project based on strict submission criteria. Developers and Investors will then be match made to conduct the Project Investment Roundtable meetings at the Summit in September where subsequent deal singings and announcements will be made.