Africa’s renewable rise & the shift from climate policy to energy security
While global investment in renewables and hydrogen saw a cooling period in 2025 — with global deal counts sliding by nearly 27 per cent — Africa emerged as a resilient outlier. According to new data from Fieldfisher, African renewable deal values quadrupled from $69 million in 2024 to $275 million in 2025. Kenya spearheaded this growth, seeing a 14-fold increase in investment value. To unpack this and more, CNBC Africa is joined by Cecily Davis, Co-Head of Fieldfisher’s Africa Group.
Tue, 05 May 2026 11:55:09 GMT
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Key Points:
- Global renewable and hydrogen deal counts fell by nearly 27% in 2025, but African renewable deal values rose from $69 million to $275 million.
- Kenya led the surge, with renewable investment value increasing fourteen-fold in a single year.
- Strong geothermal, solar and wind resources, along with political stability, helped support Kenya’s investment appeal.
- Investors are increasingly viewing African clean energy through the lens of economic growth, industrialization and resilience rather than climate policy alone.
- Development finance institutions are playing a larger role in making projects bankable and moving them toward execution.
- Domestic capital from pension funds and insurance companies is expected to become increasingly important as global climate finance becomes less certain.
- Governments can sustain momentum by improving policies on foreign investment, currency conversion and investor confidence.
- Future growth opportunities include data center-linked power demand and emerging technologies such as small modular nuclear reactors.
- More bankable PPAs and greater private-sector participation will be crucial to establishing Africa as a top renewable investment destination.
Topics
Africa renewablesKenya energy investmentFieldfisher Africa GroupCecily Davisrenewable energy dealsenergy securityEast Africa infrastructureclimate financedevelopment finance institutionssmall modular reactors
Africa is emerging as a rare bright spot in a cooling global market for renewable energy and hydrogen investment, with new data showing the continent sharply outperformed broader trends in 2025
While global renewable and hydrogen deal counts fell by nearly 27% this year, African renewable deal values climbed dramatically, rising fourfold from $69 million in 2024 to $275 million in 2025, according to new figures cited by Cecily Davis, co-head of Fieldfisher’s Africa Group, in a television interview
The standout performer was Kenya, where investment value surged fourteen-fold, underscoring how select African markets are increasingly attracting investor attention even as international appetite for clean energy transactions softens elsewhere
Davis said Africa’s resilience reflects a mix of natural retion that the energy transition on the continent is about far more than climate commitments alone
“I think there are a number of things that have contributed to the increase in activity in Africa and in particular some jurisdictions like Kenya,” Davis said. “Plainly, geographically, Kenya’s blessed with a great deal of re
Kenya’s reower markets. The country is home to some of the continent’s most prominent renewable assets, including major wind and geothermal projects, and Davis said the latest spike in investment appears to reflect a combination of large-scale deals and structural confidence in the market
She pointed to Kenya’s political stability and what she described as “long-sightedness into the importance of renewables” as supporting factors behind investor confidence. In her view, that matters because African energy investment is increasingly being framed through the lens of economic development and resilience, not just emissions reduction
That shift in framing may prove critical for the next phase of capital deployment across the continent. Rather than treating clean energy as a compliance exercise tied narrowly to climate policy, policymakers and investors are increasingly linking new power projects to industrialization, employment, grid reliability and long-term energy security
Davis said that message came through clearly at the recent Africa Finance Corporation infrastructure summit in Nairobi, where discussions centered on the role energy can play in unlocking broader economic growth
“There is a real focus on the importance of economic growth, which is coupled with the benefit of climate change approach,” she said. “They are triggers for industrialization, better economic activity and employment.”
The shift from climate policy to energy security is particularly significant in African markets, where electricity access remains uneven and power costs are still high in many countries. Davis noted that the cost of electricity per kilowatt hour remains elevated across much of the continent, in part because the cost of capital has historically been higher for African projects
That financing challenge has long constrained the pace of infrastructure buildout. But Davis said development finance institutions are increasingly stepping in to help make projects bankable and move them toward delivery in a way that had not previously been seen at scale
At the same time, she suggested the funding landscape itself is evolving. In the face of shifting geopolitical signals, including skepticism around climate finance from U.S. President Donald Trump, African markets are placing greater emphasis on mobilizing domestic pools of capital
“There is now much more focus on domestic capital across the African continent,” Davis said, adding that pension funds and insurance companies could play a bigger role in financing future infrastructure projects
That trend could be important in reducing reliance on international climate-linked capital, especially at a time when global policy support is becoming less predictable. A stronger domestic investor base may also help deepen local financial markets and improve the long-term sustainability of project pipelines
Still, Davis cautioned that continued momentum will depend heavily on government action. She said African states will need to maintain credible policies around foreign investment, currency conversion and broader investor protections if they want to preserve their appeal as renewable and clean energy destinations
“It’s important that there are policies around investment, foreign investment, currency conversion that continue to make these destinations attractive,” she said
She also broadened the discussion beyond renewables alone, arguing that Africa’s clean energy future is likely to include technologies outside the traditional wind-solar-geothermal mix. In particular, she highlighted nuclear power as an area experiencing a global renaissance that could increasingly feature in Africa’s energy planning
One of the clearest future demand drivers, Davis said, is the rapid rise of data center development across the continent. As digital infrastructure expands, so too does the need for secure, reliable and scalable power supply — a requirement that could create openings for both established renewable technologies and emerging solutions such as small modular reactors
“We see that there is much more appetite for data center development across the continent, and with that plainly, there is a need for power security,” she said. “So when we see the opportunity for small modular reactors to come into play, I think that will be a game changer for the region.”
For Africa to establish itself as a top-tier global destination for renewable investment, Davis said more projects will need to be anchored by power purchase agreements, or PPAs, and supported by private capital rather than relying predominantly on government financing
In her assessment, investors are looking for environments where returns are visible, contracts are dependable and regulatory frameworks are supportive enough to allow markets to mature
“Increased PPAs, projects that are driven not just by government finance but by private capital and allowing that environment to grow in a way that allows investors to feel confident about returns,” she said, will be key to sustaining growth
For now, the numbers suggest that even amid a broader global slowdown, Africa — and East Africa in particular — is beginning to build a case as one of the more resilient clean energy investment stories in 2025. Kenya’s sharp rise may be the clearest signal yet that investors are increasingly rewarding markets where re
If that combination holds, the continent’s renewable rise may be driven less by international climate rhetoric and more by a pragmatic push for affordable, secure and growth-enabling energy
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