Cape Town: The burgeoning green hydrogen industry presents an opportunity for Africa to enable structural change and reposition the continent. This is according to the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. The Minister delivered remarks at the African Green Hydrogen Summit, which is underway in Cape Town.
According to South African Government News Agency, Dr Ramokgopa emphasized the strategic importance of green hydrogen, not just as a clean fuel but as a catalyst for Africa’s structural transformation. He highlighted its potential to reposition the continent within global value chains as a competitive industrial actor, rather than merely an exporter of raw materials. By strategically harnessing green hydrogen, Africa could anchor new industrial ecosystems, such as green steel, fertilizers, sustainable mobility, and synthetic fuels.
The industry presents a lucrative opportunity for the continent, with a global potential of at least $300 billion in exports over the next three decades.
Africa’s rich deposits of minerals and metals critical to the industry place it at the heart of this new frontier.
Dr Ramokgopa underscored the transformative potential of green hydrogen in reversing the historical logic of dependency that has characterized Africa’s integration into the global economy. Rather than perpetuating extractive patterns, Africa could lead with an agenda of beneficiation, regional integration, and sovereign industrial development. This would require coordinated regional frameworks, utilizing platforms like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), and Agenda 2063, to attract long-term investment.
The Minister called on African leaders at the summit to assert their role in the global green hydrogen industry. He stressed the importance of demanding a fair place at the international negotiating table, emphasizing that Africa’s role in the global energy transition should be one of agency, led by African voices and g
rounded in African realities.
During the summit, the Africa Green Hydrogen Report was launched, highlighting the continent’s potential in this sector and its technical readiness. The report serves as a blueprint for scaled project execution, signaling that Africa is prepared to move from pilot projects to large-scale implementation.
Dr Ramokgopa warned that the window for Africa to shape the rules of this emerging market is narrowing, as other regions advance with public subsidies, regulatory incentives, and long-term strategies. He urged for urgent and coordinated action to avoid the pitfalls of importing technologies and skills while exporting unprocessed potential.
According to the African Green Hydrogen Alliance (AGHA), which comprises 10 African states, including South Africa, the industry could contribute between $66 billion and $126 billion to the Gross Domestic Product of member countries over the next 25 years, potentially creating two to four million jobs.
Dr Ramokgopa concluded by stating that
Africa faces a choice: to be a passive site of resource extraction or a proactive architect of the green energy economy. With the right policy frameworks and regional coordination, green hydrogen can become the backbone of a new African industrial era.