Companies in Africa have committed to sourcing 100% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030
Electricity consumed annually by these companies collectively
Only this percentage—equivalent to 780 GWh—is sourced from renewables
Annual electricity from diesel and petrol generators across Africa
Africa's corporate clean-power story isn't what the headline suggests.
According to the 2023 RE100 report, 522 companies operating in Africa have pledged 100% renewable electricity by 2030. Together, they use about 4,084 GWh a year—yet only 19% (=780 GWh) is renewable. With five years left, we are off pace.
And that's only the visible tip.
Ageing grids, rising demand, erratic supply, and mounting payment arrears are pushing businesses to self-generate. Diesel and petrol generators now produce an estimated 100 TWh (100,000 GWh) annually across Africa—roughly 25x the grid electricity those RE100 companies currently consume. This is the real market signal.
Even these figures understate reality. They exclude firms without 100% targets and overlook millions of SMEs that power African and global supply chains. True demand is far larger than official numbers imply.
Consider Nigeria: more than 70 million small generators keep homes, shops, and factories running—evidence of unmet, everyday demand at massive scale.
Meanwhile, energy-access metrics miss the mark. A benchmark of 50–100 kWh per person per year—about enough to run 1.5 light bulbs—doesn't fit a young, connected, ambitious continent seeking power for productivity, innovation, and growth.
New international guidance helps reset the bar. With the adoption of an Article 6.4 "suppressed demand" standard, a modern energy floor of around 1,000 kWh per person per year—spanning residential and non-residential basic services—provides a Paris-aligned benchmark. Recognising progress towards this floor enables credible emissions accounting and can catalyse climate finance for productive demand and inclusive growth.
A clear floor changes how projects are conceived and financed. It allows developers and buyers to value the emissions impact of lifting communities and enterprises to a modern level of electricity use—supporting results-based finance, de-risking revenue, and improving bankability. It also shifts the conversation from subsistence access to productive power: refrigeration for vaccines and food, digital connectivity, machinery for SMEs, cold-chain logistics, and electrified transport. In short, suppressed demand is no longer an excuse for inaction; it is a framework for scaling clean power with integrity.
Africa's paradox persists: world-class solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal potential sits underused; ambitious projects stall; and regional power pools remain fragmented and under-integrated. Strengthening these interconnections can match abundant renewables with fast-growing load, smooth variability, and lower system costs. But grids alone won't do it. We need markets designed for speed and trust: transparent procurement, standardised contracts, credible certificates, and clear rules on data, metering, and delivery.
Every litre replaced by renewable power plus storage cuts costs, emissions, and local air pollution—while boosting reliability for industry. Corporate procurement can lead here: behind-the-meter solar + storage for facilities, renewable PPAs for larger offtake, and cross-border solutions where regional grids can wheel clean electrons to load centres. The opportunity isn't theoretical; it's arithmetic.
Blends that combine local-currency guarantees, first-loss capital, and carbon revenues can unlock projects at scale. Article 6.4 crediting linked to a 1,000 kWh floor supports conservative baselines and robust MRV, channelling climate finance into mini-grids, C&I solar-plus-storage, grid-tied renewables, and e-mobility charging.
Done right, this aligns impact, additionality, and affordability—lowering tariffs for end-users while meeting corporate Scope 2 and supply-chain (Scope 3) goals.
Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) allow verification of renewable consumption, localisation of impact, and—when paired with better data—progress toward high-integrity claims. Good data also helps system planners: credible demand signals from buyers inform grid upgrades, storage siting, and interconnection priorities.
"I've seen the gaps up close. For four years, I led the expansion of International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) across Africa—an energy attribute certificate (EAC) system that tracks the renewable attributes of electricity—and I saw the disconnects across policy, finance, permitting and procurement that hold back clean energy at scale. These barriers must become bridges."
— Enam Akoetey, Founder
That is why we are building Africa Clean Energy Buyers (ACEB): a partnership platform to convene corporates, governments, financiers, and developers; align demand with supply; and move projects to closure. Our role is practical:
Africa doesn't lack demand or resources. It lacks integration and execution. With a clear demand floor, credible market tools, and a coalition focused on delivery, we can turn today's diesel-backed patchwork into a reliable, affordable, renewable power system.
Fix the plumbing—contracts, data, interconnections—and capital will flow. Do that, and Africa's energy story shifts from scarcity to scale, from coping to competing and from dependency to shared prosperity.
Join ACEB today and become part of the solution to unlock Africa's true energy potential through collaboration and collective action.
