Africa’s green hydrogen industry is advancing towards commercial development, with projects in Egypt, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa attracting prospective African Development Bank (AfDB) support for investments estimated at $23 billion, while Nigeria is positioning itself through a proposed €7.6 billion green methanol project in Akwa Ibom State.
The four projects selected under the AfDB’s Africa Green Hydrogen Programme could deploy 20 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power, seven GW of electrolyser capacity and 2,950 megawatt-hours of battery storage, highlighting the scale of renewable energy infrastructure required to establish a competitive hydrogen industry.
The bank is preparing $20 million in reimbursable grants through its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) to advance the projects towards investment readiness. The proposed financing, which remains subject to approval by the AfDB Board, will support feasibility studies, engineering and transaction advisory services needed to attract commercial investment.
The 2026 call for proposals attracted 81 applications from projects in 18 African countries, reflecting growing interest in green hydrogen as a potential source of industrial energy, low-carbon fuels and export revenue.
The four selected projects are Project Ra in Egypt, sponsored by DAI Infrastruktur GmbH, which is allocated $3.55 million; the Guelmim Green Hydrogen Valley in Morocco, sponsored by Nareva Holding, with $5.28 million; Namibia’s Hyphen project, sponsored by Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, with $5.93 million; and South Africa’s Saldanha Hydrogen Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) project, sponsored by Enertrag in partnership with ArcelorMittal South Africa, with $5.24 million.
The four proposed grants total $20 million, with Namibia’s Hyphen project receiving the largest allocation at $5.93 million, or nearly 30 per cent of the package. The projects’ estimated capital requirements of $23 billion are about 1,150 times the proposed grant funding, illustrating the substantial financing gap between project preparation and full-scale development.
Namibia’s Hyphen project accounts for more than $10 billion of the anticipated investment. It is designed to combine large-scale renewable electricity generation with electrolysers to produce green hydrogen and ammonia for regional and international markets. At full capacity, the project is expected to produce about two million tonnes of green ammonia annually.
South Africa is also building a pipeline of industrial-scale hydrogen projects. Hive Hydrogen’s Coega Green Ammonia project in Nelson Mandela Bay has an estimated development cost of $5.8 billion and is designed to produce up to one million tonnes of green ammonia annually.
Nigeria’s prospects are centred on a proposed green hydrogen-based methanol project at the Liberty Free Trade Zone in Atabrikang, Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The Federal Government, APPL Hydrogen Limited and China’s LONGi Green Energy Technology signed a preliminary agreement in February 2025 valued at €7.6 billion, equivalent to roughly $8 billion based on the dollar value reported at the time.
The project is expected to produce about 1.2 million tonnes of green methanol annually, alongside 1.1 GW of clean electricity, food-grade carbon dioxide and green oxygen. The Green Hydrogen Organisation lists the project among Nigeria’s major hydrogen developments.
On the basis of the announced figures, the four AfDB-supported projects and Nigeria’s Liberty Free Trade Zone project represent a combined prospective investment of approximately $31 billion. If South Africa’s separate $5.8 billion Hive Hydrogen project is also included, the identifiable project pipeline rises to about $36.8 billion.
