He said countries that have embraced climate action strategies are increasingly finding that clean-energy investments unlock new sectors, technologies and sources of long-term growth. In Africa’s case, the opportunity is amplified by the continent’s vast natural endowments.
Africa, Ramaphosa noted, has some of the world’s richest renewable energy resources, including abundant sunshine, strong wind corridors, powerful river systems and critical minerals needed for the global energy transition. These assets, he said, place the continent in a unique position to lead in green hydrogen production.
“Green hydrogen – Africa is the centre where it can be greatly utilised,” Ramaphosa said. “We can utilise our solar and our wind, and in doing so, Africa can and should find itself as being an exporter of energy.”
Green hydrogen, produced using renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, is increasingly seen as a key solution for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, chemicals, shipping and aviation.
With demand expected to surge globally, Ramaphosa said Africa has a chance not only to supply clean energy, but also to beneficiate its mineral wealth instead of exporting raw materials.
“Instead of exporting rock, soil and stones, we should add value to our minerals so that they are properly utilised in energy generation,” he said.
South Africa’s Northern Cape, one of the world’s best solar radiation regions, has already begun attracting large-scale investment linked to renewable energy and green hydrogen.
Ramaphosa said more than R110 billion has flowed into the province, illustrating how climate-focused strategies can translate into tangible economic activity, infrastructure development and job creation.
He linked this progress to a new model of international partnership championed by South Africa, particularly through its Just Energy Transition framework.
Rather than having solutions imposed from outside, Ramaphosa said South Africa designed its own transition plan and then mobilised international finance to support it.
“We did not have Western powers imposing solutions on us,” he said. “It was nationally designed, and we then put it forward to those who could provide finance.”
That approach enabled South Africa to secure blended finance – combining grants, concessional loans and private capital – and has since been replicated by other developing countries, including Indonesia.
In just one year, more than $15 billion in renewable energy investment was mobilised across Africa, he said.
Ramaphosa emphasised that Africa’s energy deficit should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a constraint. Around 600 million people on the continent still lack access to electricity, a gap he said could be closed by leveraging renewable energy and green hydrogen to drive inclusive growth.
“On the back of energy generation, and on the back of good and clever financing, we will be able, as a continent, to see higher levels of growth,” he said.
He called on global investors and financiers to look to Africa as the next frontier of clean-energy expansion, arguing that green hydrogen could anchor a new industrial future built on sustainability, resilience and shared prosperity.
“If you want to grow, you should come to Africa,” Ramaphosa said. “That is where the future is.”
BUSINESS REPORT
President Cyril Ramaphosa has positioned green hydrogen at the centre of Africa’s ambition to transform itself from an energy importer into a global clean-energy and ideas powerhouse, arguing that climate action and economic growth are not opposing choices but mutually reinforcing goals.
Speaking during a high-level discussion focused on climate, development and energy transition at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said South Africa and the continent more broadly were redefining the global narrative that frames climate action as a burden on developing economies.
“Quite often people see this as a trade-off – that you have to protect the planet or have economic growth,” Ramaphosa said. “I see this as not being mutually exclusive. The two have to be seen as mutually reinforcing.”
