- South Africa will host the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit 2026 in Cape Town next week, bringing together governments, investors, technology experts, academia and civil society.
- The summit will focus on moving green hydrogen and Power to X projects from development into financing, construction and commercial deployment.
- Key priorities include project finance, market creation, infrastructure, industrialisation, technology development and regional cooperation.
South Africa’s Department of Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa will host the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit 2026 in Cape Town next week as the continent seeks to accelerate the development of a commercially viable green hydrogen sector.
The summit will be held under the theme “Moving Africa’s Green Hydrogen Sector from PowerPoint to Gigawatts”.
Following the South Africa Green Hydrogen Summits held in 2022 and 2023, the platform was expanded into the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit in 2025. The event has since developed into a major African platform for green hydrogen and Power to X development.
The 2026 summit will bring together African governments, international investors, civil society, academia and technology specialists to examine Africa’s potential to become a global green hydrogen producer and industrial hub.
According to the Department of Electricity and Energy, the focus this year will be on demonstrating tangible progress in project implementation, financing, infrastructure development and industrialisation across Africa.
South Africa is positioning green hydrogen as part of its broader energy transition and industrial development strategy. Its policy framework includes the Hydrogen Society Roadmap, the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy and the Just Energy Transition framework.
The department said South Africa and other African countries have an opportunity to establish a significant position in the global green hydrogen market because of the continent’s renewable energy resources, critical mineral reserves and industrial demand.
The summit will also seek to mobilise foreign and domestic investment while developing export opportunities for low carbon energy and supporting green industrialisation, job creation and regional infrastructure development.
A key focus will be projects moving towards implementation, with the summit expected to showcase South African and African green hydrogen and Power to X projects progressing from development towards investment, construction and commercial operation.
Finance will be another major priority, with project preparation, blended finance and development finance initiatives expected to feature prominently. These mechanisms are intended to improve project bankability, reduce investment risk and attract both domestic and international capital.
The summit will also examine the development of commercial markets for green hydrogen and its derivatives, including applications in transport, industry and other sectors that are difficult to decarbonise.
Industrialisation and technology development will form another central theme, with government, industry and development partners expected to highlight initiatives supporting local manufacturing, technology development, skills and competitive African green hydrogen value chains.
The event will also provide greater visibility of the emerging project pipeline in South Africa, with the aim of giving investors and financiers a clearer view of potential green hydrogen and Power to X opportunities.
Regional cooperation will be addressed through engagement between African governments, including members of the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance. Areas of cooperation include investment, infrastructure, market development, certification, technology and regional value chains.
The department said the programme would also examine the interconnected factors required to bring green hydrogen projects to scale, including finance, supply, demand, shared infrastructure, technology and innovation, policy and regulation and community participation.
The summit comes as African countries seek to convert significant renewable energy resources into new industrial and export opportunities, while developing domestic markets for low carbon fuels and products.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
