The European Union (EU) announced that its one-year-long campaign to mobilise investments in renewable energy in Africa, led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, has secured €15.5 billion to power a clean future across the continent.
The statement issued Sunday in Abuja revealed additional commitments in clean energy generation and access for households to electricity.
The pledges include those made by President Leyen on behalf of Team Europe to the tune of over €10 billion, as well as significant additional bilateral contributions by European financial institutions, member states, and their development finance institutions.
The Union held that the campaign, organised in collaboration with the international advocacy organisation, Global Citizen, and with the policy support of the International Energy Agency, was aimed at driving public and private investment in supporting the clean energy transition in Africa, expanding access to electricity, and promoting Africa’s sustainable economic growth and decarbonised industrialisation.
President Leyen said, “Today, the world has stepped up for Africa. With €15.5 billion, we are turbocharging Africa’s clean-energy transition. Millions more people could gain access to electricity, life-changing power for families, businesses, and for entire communities.
“This investment is a surge of opportunity; thriving markets, new jobs, and reliable, clean energy that meets the needs of partners across the globe. President Ramaphosa and I both look forward to a clean-energy future for the continent. A future led by Africa, with strong support from its friend and partner, Europe.”
The Team Europe package announced by President Leyen includes new Global Gateway projects co-financed with contributions from Germany, France, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Others are the European Investment Bank (€2.1 billion) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (€740 million).
“In addition, Italy (€2.4 billion), Germany (over €2 billion), the Netherlands, including FMO (€250 million), Portugal (€113 million), Denmark (€81 million), Sweden (€44 million), Austria (€5 million), Ireland (€5 million) made bilateral contributions worth over €5 billion while the EBRD announced a separate bilateral investment of over €600 million.
“In the context of the campaign, the African Development Bank pledged to allocate at least 20 per cent of the African Development Fund’s 17th replenishment to renewable energy, while Norway pledged approximately €53 million through their contribution to the African Development Fund over 2026-2028.
“The campaign also secured additional commitments that will generate 26.8 GW generated renewable energy and bring renewable electricity to 17.5 million households that currently live without reliable access.”
The statement added that from the €10 billion pledged by President Leyen on behalf of Team Europe, €3.1 billion were announced previously on the occasion of the EU-South Africa summit earlier in March, the Mattei Plan for Africa and Global Gateway event in June, the Africa Climate Summit and the United Nations General Assembly in September, as well as the Global Gateway Forum in October.
Also, the €7 billion was announced by the President during the final pledging event in Johannesburg on 21 November.
In addition to the campaign pledges, a number of Team Europe actors have indicated their intention to increase investments in renewable energy by 2030 up to another €4 billion.
