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This weather vane of the green economy faltered, then picked up anew

Green hydrogen potentially has it all. Clean energy, massive industrial application, ideal for Africa

October 09, 2026

Welcome to Green Rising – Four years ago, the idea of making hydrogen with renewable energy was all the rage. Climate industrialists talked of mobilising billions of dollars for Africa. Unlikely manufacturing champions such as Mauritania rushed ahead.

Then the enthusiasm cooled somewhat in the Trump era. A few plants came onstream. But the Mauritanian billions have yet to emerge. Instead, the usual subjects stepped up, including South Africa, and focused on projects of initially a more modest scale. 

Today, green hydrogen has established a foothold, and project developers have learnt how to build the technology and capital structures to create a realistic pillar of the green economy. Not a panacea but a further green industrial leg for Africa to start leaning on.

New bets on green hydrogen to gain scale

South Africa has selected six priority green hydrogen projects from a list of 17 as it points projects to a clear action pathway. Together, the projects will drive the development of 5.1 GW of solar and wind capacity to support their operations. One of the six projects has already reached final investment decision, with construction expected to start in early 2027.

  • The new portfolio is intended to focus government and development-partner support on projects with clearer routes to financial close and commercial operation. 

  • Despite the initial hydrogen hype in 2023, it has yet to translate into much in Africa. Only a handful of countries, including Namibia and Egypt, have hydrogen projects in operation, and these remain relatively small-scale.

  • Our take: Africa should first look inwards for demand creation before exploring export markets… Read more (2 min)

Many green hydrogen projects in Africa are stuck in ambitious pipelines. South Africa is now accelerating the shift to investment with its recently launched Green Hydrogen Deal Book, which identifies six priority projects from a broader pipeline and outlines the conditions needed to reach a final investment decision (FID).

  • Bankability remains a key challenge for Africa’s green hydrogen pipeline. At least five projects have reached FID, while at least 122 projects have been announced, according to the Hydrogen Rising project tracker.

  • South Africa’s approach offers a potential model for other hydrogen projects in the region, where announcements have yet to translate into investment. 

  • Our take: The route to FID is increasingly a question of project architecture… Read more (2 min)

Opinion: Why Africa’s green hydrogen projects need to start small

Africa's green hydrogen ambitions have largely centred on gigawatt-scale export projects that struggle with offtake. Instead, renewable energy consultant Prof. Ioannis Tsipouridis advocates starting with smaller, demand-driven projects that can build markets, demonstrate commercial viability and lay the groundwork for scale.

  • Prof. Tsipouridis is a Senior Research Fellow at Kenya-based Strathmore University and a visiting professor at Kisii University. He is also Director of the Renewable Energy & Climate Change Research Center at the Technical University of Mombasa and Project Manager of two Horizon Europe projects at the same institution. 

  • “What is needed is a redirection of focus toward smaller, demand-driven green hydrogen applications, thus avoiding the massive infrastructure hurdle, the mesmerising financing requirements and the export needs that are part and parcel of gigawatt-scale projects,” he says.

  • Read the full opinion article here (2 min)

Number of the week

… of solar panels were imported by the DR Congo from China between January and August, 200 MW more than during all of 2025. Total installed DRC power capacity is less than 4 GW

Top green jobs from…

EVENTS UPDATE 

📆 Attend the Africa Ecosystem Restoration Symposium in South Africa (October 12)

📆 Sign Up for the Africa EV Mobility Expo in Morocco (October 27) 

📆 Join the Solar & Storage Summit Ghana in Ghana (November 19)

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