Ghana on Wednesday joined other nations at the second Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa (APRA) Investment Forum, launched in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to scale up investments in renewable energy and accelerate the continent’s green industrialisation.
The two-day forum, jointly organised by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Government of Sierra Leone, brings together ministers, policymakers, investors, developers, and financiers from across Africa and beyond to unlock funding for clean energy projects.
Representing Ghana, officials from the Ministry of Energy and the Energy Commission are engaging in high-level policy and technical sessions to explore investment models that could support Ghana’s transition to a low-carbon energy future, in line with its Energy Transition and Investment Plan (ETIP) launched last year.
The meeting follows the launch of an IRENA report at the Pre-COP in Brasília, which revealed that Africa accounted for only 1.6 per cent of global new renewable capacity in 2024 – a figure experts say highlights the urgent need for greater collaboration, financing, and policy coherence on the continent.
“Renewables have become the most affordable source of power generation, yet the gap between Africa’s vast renewable energy potential and actual deployment remains wide,” Mr Francesco La Camera, the Director-General of IRENA said.
“We must act urgently and collaboratively to remove persistent financial barriers and ensure affordable capital reaches viable projects,” he said.
Dr Kandeh Yumkella, the Energy Sector Lead and Chairman of Sierra Leone’s Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security (PI-CREF), said hosting the forum aligned with Sierra Leone’s efforts to raise its renewable energy share from 46 per cent to 52 per cent.
That could be done through a USD 2.2 billion Mission 300 Compact.
The Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa (APRA), launched in 2023 by IRENA and six African countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Namibia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe, aims to mobilise international support for Africa’s energy transition by connecting bankable projects with investors.
Ghana’s participation is viewed as strategic, given its recent renewable energy developments, including solar mini-grids for island communities, the expansion of the Bui Power Authority’s solar projects, and plans to integrate more clean power into the national grid.
Officials say lessons from the APRA process and regional investment matchmaking could help Ghana attract new financing for solar, wind, and waste-to-energy projects, key priorities under the country’s energy transition pathway.
Last year’s inaugural APRA Investment Forum in Nairobi mobilised a project pipeline valued at USD 2.7 billion and identified around one gigawatt of renewable capacity.
The Freetown meeting is expected to advance identified projects, strengthen investment readiness, and support implementation efforts across participating countries.
GNA
