By Ben Ogbebor
Africa stands at a pivotal crossroads in 2025. The tectonic shifts in global politics and economics have exposed the fragility of the old Jubilee market that once kept the continent tethered to raw commodity exports. Tariffs are rising, markets are realigning, and Africa faces the urgent imperative to reclaim its future through energy self-reliance and industrial transformation.
Energy is the heartbeat of progress. Yet today, 18 of the 20 least electrified countries in the world are in Africa, with over 571 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lacking access to electricity — numbers that have stubbornly risen despite global advances. This energy poverty is the anchor holding back prosperity, productivity, and human dignity.
As Ben Ogbebor powerfully states, “Power generation and Power consumption must improve to elevate Africa, improve productivity, and lift our people out of poverty.” This is not just a call to action — it is the foundation upon which Africa’s renaissance must be built.
The Urgent Case for Energy Independence
Electrification Deficit: Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 83% of the global energy access deficit. Rural areas bear the brunt, with 451 million people without electricity. Without rapid electrification, Africa’s growth will continue to be muted
Economic Opportunity: Renewable energy could boost Africa’s GDP by approximately 6.4% by 2050, with over 8-14 million new jobs created in energy transition sectors. Investment in renewables creates three times as many jobs per dollar as fossil fuels.
Trade Balance and Fiscal Stability: Transitioning to homegrown renewables shrinks dependency on expensive fossil fuel imports — which currently cost Sub-Saharan Africa approximately 2% of its GDP.
Technological Leadership: Africa holds an estimated 7,900 GW of solar photovoltaic potential, along with vast untapped wind, hydropower, geothermal, and bioenergy resources. 1% utilization of Africa’s superhot rock geothermal resources alone could provide 12.4 terawatts of electricity capacity — dwarfing global power capacity.
Africa’s Solar Revolution: The Key to Prosperity
The sunbathes Africa in unrivalled solar energy — one of the greatest untapped renewables resources globally. The continent installed 2.4 GW of new solar capacity in 2024, and the market is forecasted to surge by 42% in 2025. By 2028, Africa is projected to add 23 GW more solar capacity, with over 18 countries installing 100 MW or more of solar generation capacity.
Building solar manufacturing and storage industries across the continent will:
- Harness solar energy to power millions of homes and businesses reliably and sustainably.
- Create green jobs, build local expertise, and strengthen supply chains in every geopolitical region.
- Support critical infrastructure, including EV charging networks, to future-proof Africa’s mobility and energy systems.
A Continental Call to Ignite
Ignite Africa is more than a slogan — it is a movement for liberation and self-determination through renewable energy. We must build factories to produce solar panels, battery packs, and EV chargers across Africa, shifting the continent from a resource supplier to a global industrial powerhouse.
This requires urgent action from governments to reform policies and attract investment, from businesses to innovate and scale green industries, and from citizens to embrace sustainable energy as a non-negotiable human right. The stakes are immense: the future of billions depends on this energy awakening.
Africa’s solar potential exceeds the energy needs of its present and future generations, what remains is the will and the unity to harness it. This is more than electricity. It is power, power to change lives, power to build economies, power to ignite a continent.
“Ignite Africa, and the world will follow the light”.
Ben Ogbebor
Ignite Africa
