AETC 2027 in summary
Why Africa. Why Now.
The defining energy story of the 21st century is being written on African soil. No other continent combines Africa’s scale of need, depth of resources, and pace of change, and the decisions made here, about who designs, owns, and profits from the technologies of the energy transition, will shape not only Africa’s future but the world’s. The Africa Energy Technology Conference is where that future is convened.
Here is why Africa is not a market to watch, but the market to build:
01
The world’s youngest and fastest-growing demand.
Africa’s population is expanding at roughly twice the global average, and energy demand is set to rise more than 50% by 2040, yet electricity use per person remains about one-sixth of the global average. This is not a saturated market being defended; it is a continent-scale demand curve being created in real time, with the technologies to meet it still being chosen.
2x
Population growth vs. global average +50%
Energy demand rise by 2040 1/6
Electricity use per person 02
An unmatched resource endowment.
Africa holds 60% of the world’s best solar resources, alongside vast wind, hydro and geothermal potential, with solar alone projected to supply nearly 40% of the continent’s new electricity capacity this decade. It also holds proven hydrocarbon wealth, over 125 billion barrels of oil and 630 trillion cubic feet of gas, a bridge fuel for industrialisation on African terms.
60%
Of the world’s best solar 40%
New capacity from solar +125B
Barrels of proven oil 630Tcf
Proven gas reserves 03
The minerals at the heart of the transition.
Every battery, panel, turbine and EV depends on minerals Africa holds in abundance, including 55% of global cobalt, roughly 48% of manganese, and more than 30% of the world’s critical green minerals. Yet the continent captures only about 40% of the revenue these resources could generate. The value is being taken elsewhere, a gap engineering sovereignty is built to close.
55%
Of global cobalt 48%
Of manganese 30%+
Critical green minerals 40%
Of revenue captured 04
The access imperative.
Around 600 million Africans still live without electricity, and more than a billion without clean cooking. This is the largest development and business opportunity of our era, and the reason the solutions built here must be affordable, distributed, and African-owned.
600M
Without electricity 1B+
Without clean cooking
- Nations under one trade area
- 54
- People, one single market
- 1.4B
The resources are here. The talent is here. And through the African Continental Free Trade Area, 54 nations and some 1.4 billion people are being woven into the world’s largest single market, the scale at which indigenous technologies can finally be manufactured, standardised, and commercialised. What remains is to build it: together, and on African terms.
Network. Invest. Cut Deals.
18–20 May 2027 · Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra