Africa Energy Futures

Africa’s energy transition will play an important role in decarbonizing the global economy and meeting the targets of the Paris Agreement. A new report by DLA Piper Africa takes a look at the way this transition is likely to happen in various parts of the continent.

The Africa Energy Futures report is an in-depth look at where 21 jurisdictions across the continent currently stand in regard to this transition, as well as the challenges and opportunities that will arise in the next five to ten years. It was prepared by DLA Piper Africa member firm lawyers and energy and natural resources teams.

A number of interesting observations were made in the report, including that almost all of the countries surveyed have legislative and/or investment programs in place for renewables, presenting both the chance for African nations to lead the energy transition and a large-scale cross-continental investment opportunity.

A closer look reveals that in Burundi, Ethiopia and Tanzania this shift will take the form of expanded hydroelectric capacity, whereas in other jurisdictions like Botswana, Kenya and South Africa, the focus is on developing solar and wind infrastructure. It is anticipated that fossil fuels and biomass will continue to play a large part of the energy mix for almost all of the jurisdictions. However, outliers like Algeria, Angola and Nigeria continue to encourage and secure investment in new oil and gas developments.

The incentives for transitioning to renewable energy are recognised and acknowledged in Africa’s markets. In particular, it is perceived as a solution to overcome generation deficits as well as a way of achieving middle-income country status by 2030. The key to achieving these goals will be implementation. Countries will need to ensure that they have in place not only attractive legislative frameworks, but also real drive from governments to incentivize clean energy investment and “bankable” projects.

To read the full report click here.

To register for the report launch webinar on December 1st, click here.

Report contributors



Mounir Ait Belkacem and Benaouda Miloudi — Algeria

Filipe Marques de Oliveira — Angola

Terence Dambe — Botswana

Claver Nigarura — Burundi

Dr. Francky Lukanda — Côte d'Ivoire

Benyam Tafesse — Ethiopia

Kizzita Mensah, Dominic Quashigah and Maame Ekua Y. Assam — Ghana

Beatrice Nyabira — Kenya

Nicolas Richard — Mauritius

Christophe Bachelet — Morocco

Kaina Mamudo Mussagy — Mozambique

Meyer van den Berg — Namibia

Dayo Idowu — Nigeria

Moses Gatama Kiiza — Rwanda

Ismael Itoua and Mahamat Atteib — Senegal

Jamie MacDonald — South Africa

Pascal Mwanyika — Tanzania

Hend Turki — Tunisia

Nicholas Ecimu and Paul Mbuga — Uganda

Eustace Ngoma — Zambia

Ronald Mutasa — Zimbabwe

James Carter — UK

Charles Allin — UK

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