Cradle to grave solutions for Africa’s key role in global energy transition

With Africa set to play a key role in the global energy transition, it’s vital that anyone looking to develop projects or invest in the continent is willing to have bold conversations and work with advisors with local expertise and deep understandings of Africa’s distinct environments, challenges, and opportunities.

“There's a unique way in which things need to roll out in Africa, and I think what gives our clients and investors comfort is that we know how the environment works,” says Jonathan Veeran, Head of Mining Sector at Webber Wentzel. “You have to accept that our continent works differently in a number of ways. Coming to a firm like ours allows you to understand the nuances of dealing in a particular jurisdiction, like Zambia, which operates very differently from what you’d expect in London or Brussels. It’s not a question of sophistication, just being different.”

Mzukisi Kota and Mlungisi Mahlangu, the firm’s Head and Deputy Head of Energy Sector, agree that Africa is uniquely placed for the global energy transition, and provides bountiful opportunities for those who can navigate its ecosystem. 

“Africa is the least electrified of any continent, and the demand in Africa for energy is pretty massive,” says Mzukisi. “At the same time, the critical minerals required for the energy transition are heavily present in Africa, and there’s a great history of mining here. The opportunity for developers of energy solutions, for energy generators, is massive, because you’ve got all the factors for what you would need to make a very successful and lucrative energy business.” 

Similarly to what has occurred with mobile phone technology and innovative fintech solutions, say Jonathan, Mzukisi, and Mlungisi, African green energy projects also have a great opportunity to ‘leapfrog’ technologically, given the different stage of the continent’s infrastructure development and industrialisation. 

“It also required a bit of boldness around some of the conservation points and the developmental needs of the continent,” says Mlungisi. “What our firm can do is help investors understand the jurisdictions that they’re looking to do business in. Because we have experience doing work across most African jurisdictions. We have deep and meaningful relationships with key stakeholders, not just regulators but businesspeople. We’re able to bridge the gap where there might be a deficit of either trust or knowledge or context. We’ve been there before.”

The Webber Wentzel team is looking forward to having some bold, insightful conversations with various stakeholders as the Africa Energy Forum makes its first-ever visit to South Africa, being held in Cape Town on 17-20 June 2025.

“AEF is always a great time for the whole energy market, with players across energy and infrastructure coming together,” says Mzukisi. “It’s jam-packed with meaningful conversations and meetings. It’s a great time to do a lot of new business, connect different kinds of sponsors with money, or investors with developers. We have clients asking us to help with that kind of matchmaking, and to get a sense of where the market is heading. The magic is it’s a space for everyone to come together, meet each other, and have these conversations.”

Jonathan notes a lot of future mining will be driven by energy transition, focused on a new set of critical minerals, which will be pertinent for AEF because a new grouping of African jurisdictions may be opened to mining, and there will be more exploratory activities for minerals many have never heard of before. 

Tied to the growing nexus between energy and mining, and “the moment we’re in” with energy transition in Africa, says Mzukisi, is a move towards Business Human Rights, and the socioeconomic and governance aspects of ESG. 

“The human focus is far greater from a global perspective. So hopefully this new era will play itself out a little better in Africa, so there’s greater local benefit and to ensure more economic development within countries and communities located around these critical minerals and rare earth minerals, and this means that it unfolds as a better story for Africa than previous mineral booms.”

There are challenges facing the energy and mining sectors in Africa, of course, note Mzukisi, Jonathan, and Mlungisi. Along with an infrastructure deficit that can hopefully be addressed by more regional cooperation in future, the biggest challenges are linked to (mis)perception of risk, and financing of energy projects. 

“The perception of risk in different African jurisdictions often results in an over-reliance on government support in order to make projects happen, with investors requiring governments to put funding behind projects or sovereign guarantees,” says Mzukisi “This is the single biggest hurdle because many governments simply don’t have that room in their balance sheets, while focused on all the other socioeconomic challenges, to also support large-scale energy projects.”

Recognising this hurdle, Webber Wentzel has been at the forefront of developing new products with the World Bank, to support unlocking energy financing without relying on sovereign guarantees. In South Africa, they’ve developed a credit guarantee vehicle for financing transmission infrastructure that they hope will soon be rolled out into other jurisdictions in southern Africa. 

“Our firm has been sitting at the forefront of these kinds of innovations and the development of solutions in the same way we were at the forefront of developing the renewable energy IPP programme in South Africa and coming up with a new kind of solution of reverse auctioning energy projects that’s now been applied throughout the world,” says Mzukisi. “We’re hoping some of what we’re doing to unlock financing constraints will also have that kind of global rollout.”