Energy leaders from across Africa’s private sector and financial institutions have urged stronger collaboration with governments to bridge the continent’s growing energy financing gap. The call came during the Energy Leaders’ Dialogue at African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies 2025, where executives stressed that governance, transparency and legal certainty are essential for ensuring universal access to energy.
The session – Strengthening Public & Private Collaborations for Increased Energy Access – was sponsored by electrical company Elsewedy Electric and underscored the importance of robust institutional frameworks to build investor confidence.
Haytham El-Maayergi, Executive Vice President Global Trade Bank at Afreximbank, said partnerships between the public and private sectors are vital. “The mix between public and private always works very well for us because it gives us the best of both worlds,” he stated.
Elsewedy Electric’s Business Development Director-Africa, Andrew Daoud, pointed to the company’s renewable energy and grid modernisation initiatives in Rwanda and Chad as examples of successful public-private partnerships (PPPs). He highlighted Elsewedy’s involvement in financing major projects such as Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery and Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba floating solar project, saying such efforts show how collaboration can drive both conventional and renewable energy growth.
“What we are seeing right now is not a choice. For every PPP we need to ask if it’s commercially viable and socially valuable. Governance is the most important thing,” Daoud emphasised.
On nuclear energy, Sama Bilbao y León, Director General of the World Nuclear Association, described ongoing collaboration with the African Energy Chamber and the International Atomic Energy Agency to advance deployment of new technologies such as small modular reactors. These, she noted, could provide cost-effective solutions for emerging markets.
“The partnership between governments that recognize the long-term opportunities and social development opportunities of nuclear projects can help catalyze private sector leadership in the space,” Bilbao y León said.
Adding a consulting perspective, Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, CEO and Founder of Bioko Consulting, outlined how his firm has built strategic partnerships with governments and private investors. He cited collaborations with Weizhuo Technology and the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank to bolster energy independence in the Gulf of Guinea.
“What we need to achieve is an honest conversation between government, bankers and operators, and each of them are speaking different languages and have different demands,” Lima remarked.
The panellists concluded that Africa’s energy financing challenge cannot be solved by capital alone. Coordinated leadership, they agreed, is necessary to ensure that projects are not only bankable but also socially impactful.
