Three African countries dominate wind energy capacity across the continent

A report released by the Global Wind Energy Council revealed that South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco account for more than eighty-five percent of the total installed wind power capacity across the African continent, while the region registered record additions reaching one point five three gigawatts during the year two thousand and twenty-five. In this context, Egyptian energy expert Osama Fawzi, founder and chief executive officer of the Hydrogen Intelligence platform, stated in press remarks that the concentration of wind projects in these three nations is due to the availability of suitable locations for establishing stations, alongside government policies that stimulate investment within the renewable energy sector. He added that a number of African countries are turning toward solar energy owing to its lower investment costs compared to wind ventures, indicating that expanding in renewable energy does not rely solely on natural resources, but rather requires a clear legislative and regulatory environment capable of attracting investments. Fawzi further explained that the absence of supportive legal and regulatory frameworks in certain African states limits the entry of investors into the wind energy sector, whereas Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa provide supportive mechanisms for investment, including long-term power purchase agreements that may extend to thirty or thirty-two years. He pointed out that these contracts grant investors greater clarity regarding future revenues and help assess the economic feasibility of projects and recover their construction costs, noting that electricity purchase prices and contract durations represent fundamental factors in making investment decisions. He confirmed that developing electricity networks constitutes one of the most prominent requirements for expanding wind projects, as weak infrastructure and limited network capacity could hinder the transmission of generated energy to consumers, even with the availability of natural resources and necessary financing to establish the plants. He stressed the importance of integrating investment policies with electricity transmission grid development plans to ensure utilization of wind energy potentials and enhance its contribution to the continent's energy mix.