SA drives G20 push for clean cooking and off-grid energy: Ramaphosa

At the final pledging event for 'Scaling Up Renewables for Africa' in Sandton, President Cyril Ramaphosa said a year‑long G20‑launched campaign has advanced an action plan for clean cooking and off‑grid energy and mobilized further pledges to an Africa energy fund to expand electrification and renewables across the continent, noting about 40% of Africans remain without electricity. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted that $2 trillion was invested in clean energy last year but only 2% went to Africa and pointed to Europe's Global Gateway investments in modern grids, transmission lines and battery storage as tools to power jobs and industrial growth. The initiative seeks to channel capital to harness Africa's abundant solar, wind, hydro and mineral resources and accelerate a clean‑energy‑driven industrialization, but scaling meaningful financing remains the key challenge.

Analysis

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa used the final pledging event for “Scaling Up Renewables for Africa” in Sandton to signal progress from a year‑long G20 campaign launched in Rio that advanced an action plan for clean cooking, off‑grid solutions and mobilised further pledges to an Africa energy fund. He highlighted that roughly 40% of Africa’s population still lacks access to electricity, framing the initiative as essential to improve healthcare, education and economic activity.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen quantified the financing gap, noting $2 trillion flowed into clean energy globally last year but only 2% went to Africa, and pointed to Europe’s Global Gateway investments in modern grids, transmission and battery storage as catalysts. The combination of abundant renewable resources and mineral endowments creates a structural opportunity if capital is effectively channelled into grid buildout, storage and decentralized solutions.

The primary investment risk is execution: pledges must convert into disbursed capital, projects must overcome permitting, grid and off‑take constraints, and timelines will be multi‑year. Market signals are mildly positive, implying early strategic opportunities for investors who can tolerate political and implementation risk while tracking disbursement milestones and project pipelines.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Consider selective exposure to managers or funds targeting African renewable infrastructure and off‑grid energy projects that can access G20/EU co‑financing, prioritize allocations to transmission, grid modernization and battery storage technologies highlighted as funding priorities in the article, monitor G20 pledge-to-disbursement milestones and the share of global clean-energy flows to Africa (noted as 2%) as a trigger for scaling positions, maintain modest position sizes and include political/implementation risk hedges given execution and sovereign risks, favor partners or developers with demonstrated local partnerships and track records to improve probability of project completion