Energy Transition Africa (ETA) has unveiled its 2026 Fellows Programme,a production – based fellowship and first of its kind to be built explicitly for continent’s energy professionals around the argument that Africa’s energy transition will succeed or fail not
because of hardware or capital, but because of the people the continent builds to govern, finance, communicate, and sustain it.

It also stated, “We’re looking for those who are already producing analytical work in form, policy, journalism, documents, research outputs,grant proposal, technical reports, or public commentary and who want to develop that work into something that meets a globally credible standard and contributes to the most consequential conversations shaping energy transition.”

Speaking on the launch, its Executive Director, Vincent Egoro stated explicitly that they are deploying a clean energy future it cannot maintain not because the technology fails but because the people required to sustain it were never built.Applications for Cohort Zero are open, free to all fellows, and will close on 30th June, while the founding cohort will launch it 30 July,2026.

According to Egoro, “We are not building commentators, rather, we’re developing the analysts, communicators, and institutional actors who will be in the rooms where Africa’s transition decisions are made over the next twenty years, and whose work will hold those rooms accountable.”

“Founding Cohort has opened for applications as Africa-led Institution builds the analytical workforce the Continent’s Energy Transition requires. We will admit a limited number of fellows from across Africa through a competitive selection process,” he added.

The Executive Director explained that Africa is deploying clean energy infrastructure at an accelerating pace, adding,yet the professionals who can govern that infrastructure, interrogate the financing structure behind it, hold institutions accountable for its performance, and communicate its realities to the public are not being produced at scale.