The stark reality of climate change and its devastating impact on the world around us is no longer news.
The consequences of our struggle with climate change are far-reaching, affecting nations across the globe.
These events have created a global sense of urgency, placing us at a critical moment that requires innovative and pragmatic climate-centered solutions that put the people first, not just for us today, but for future generations and the planet.
A significantly large energy deficit and high vulnerability to climate change seriously impede sub-Saharan Africa’s path towards sustainable and inclusive growth.
The extent to which the region can leverage the opportunities offered by renewable energy is an important and urgent policy question.
Africa faces a critical dual challenge: providing electricity to over 600 million people, roughly half the continent, while navigating climate change, despite contributing less than 3% to global emissions.
Expanding energy access is essential for economic growth, yet it must be done sustainably using renewables and natural gas to avoid locking in high-emission infrastructure.
The twin problem of energy access and climate change is too much for African countries to solve independently. That is where international partnerships rooted in shared priorities rather than charity become essential.
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Leveraging Strategic Partnerships
Over the past several years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has strategically positioned itself as one of Africa’s most consequential partners in the green energy transition.
Through vehicles like Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company), the UAE has committed over $10 billion to clean energy projects across the continent, spanning countries from Egypt and Mauritania to Kenya and South Africa.
These investments focus on solar, wind, and hydropower resources Africa has in abundance but has struggled to harness at scale. Then there is Etihad 7, a proactive UAE-led initiative designed to provide clean electricity to 100 million people in Africa by 2035.
“Renewable energy in Africa is a strategic priority for the UAE, reflecting the strong alignment between the continent’s urgent energy and development needs and the UAE’s own clean-energy transition and global climate commitments. Africa’s vast and underutilized renewable-energy potential presents a critical opportunity to expand energy access, accelerate economic growth, and strengthen climate resilience, while supporting a just and inclusive energy transition”, explains H.E. Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi, the UAE’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Development and International Organizations.
Drawing on its domestic capabilities and international experience in renewable energy development, project delivery, and innovative financing, the UAE views investment in
Africa’s clean energy sector is a core pillar of its external engagement and long-term development partnership with the continent.
A statement issued at the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa in February confirmed that the UAE has emerged as Africa’s largest single-country investor in recent years, committing more than USD 110 billion across the continent between 2019 and 2023, with over USD 70 billion directed to energy, green, and renewable sectors.
“Under the Africa Green Investment Initiative, USD 4.5 billion has been mobilized for more than 60 projects spanning solar, wind, geothermal, battery storage, and green hydrogen,” read the statement.
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Demonstrable Political Will at the Africa Climate Summits
Crucially, Africa is not a passive recipient in this transition. Despite persistent challenges—including financing gaps, debt burdens, and inadequate infrastructure—the continent has demonstrated unmistakable political will. The two Africa Climate Summits, held in Nairobi in 2023 and in Addis Ababa in 2025, produced landmark declarations that collectively affirm Africa’s commitment to green energy.
The 2023 Nairobi Declaration called for unlocking the continent’s renewable potential, scaling green industrialization, and reforming the global financial architecture to better serve climate-vulnerable nations. Building on that momentum, the 2025 Addis Ababa Declaration went further, setting concrete targets for renewable energy deployment, establishing accountability mechanisms for climate finance, and demanding a fairer carbon credit trading system.
The Mission 300 Agenda and the Clean Cooking Initiative were advanced to ensure that 300 million Africans gain access to modern energy and 900 million to clean cooking solutions within the decade.
Leaders further called for Africa’s share of global renewable energy investments to rise from a meagre 2% today to at least 20% by 2030, a shift that would finally reflect the continent’s potential as a renewable energy powerhouse.
These summits proved that African leaders are not waiting for permission—they are charting their own green path, with or without global consensus. For the UAE, that self-determined ambition makes Africa not just a recipient of aid, but a genuine partner in the global clean energy revolution.
This article has been written by Zachary Ochieng, a Global Communications Strategist and a commentator on climate change.
