African leaders, energy gurus in the world and international financial institutions discussed the continent’s future plans for nuclear energy which emphasize the importance of cooperation, investment and capacity building.
These discussions were made during the second conference known as Nuclear Energy Innovation Summit for Africa (NEISA 2026).
Participants at the conference included policymakers and other industry participants who deliberated on how the African nations could achieve their nuclear energy goals and secure energy future.
One of the takeaways at this conference was that collaboration between African nations is essential in order to achieve the desired outcomes. This was stated by the minister for infrastructure in Rwanda, Jimmy Gasore.
He referred to the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose market comprising of 1.4 billion people and GDP of over $3 trillion can contribute to providing the scale required for large investments in nuclear projects.
“Cooperation is no longer an option, but rather a necessity for us in Africa,” he stated, adding that there should be coordination in terms of regulatory frameworks and investments.
Robert Lisinge, from the UN Economic Commission for Africa, echoed the idea that Africa needs to do more continent-wide planning when it comes to the integration of nuclear energy projects.
In addition to financing and infrastructure, experts highlighted that nurturing homegrown talent is still an extremely important priority. The experts contended that creating professionals and improving African institutions is equally important as building reactors.
In terms of financing, summit delegates deliberated on various methods of financing nuclear power, such as collective regional projects and private-public partnerships in an attempt to generate multilateral funding.
The representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency supported Africa’s aspirations by stating that the continent finally has a chance to create a more collaborative approach to energy generation.
