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Here is a playbook for tackling Africa’s hydrogen offtake

August 31, 2026

Dear subscriber,

Africa’s hydrogen ambitions have largely focused on building production capacity, but finding buyers willing to commit to the fuel remains a significant hurdle. What if the first customers did not have to come from outside the project? One multinational is taking a different approach and it could offer a playbook for building demand from within.

Mercy Maina – Editor

Here is a playbook for tackling Africa’s hydrogen offtake 

As African developers struggle with offtake, a Namibian model offers a possible solution by using internal demand as an initial market for hydrogen. Maritime transport firm CMB.TECH commissioned its Hydrogen Dune facility in Walvis Bay in late August, with its operations providing the initial demand for hydrogen produced at the site.

  • Developers face a chicken-and-egg problem, with customers wanting competitive hydrogen before committing to demand, while investors want committed customers before financing large production facilities. 

  • CMB.TECH’s approach addresses this by developing hydrogen production alongside captive demand, using its own industrial and transport operations as an initial market while building infrastructure that can eventually support wider third-party demand.

  • Our take: Large energy users should be treated as potential market-makers, not just offtakers.……..Read more (2 min)

Opinion: Why Africa’s green hydrogen projects need to start small

Africa's green hydrogen ambitions have largely centred on gigawatt-scale export projects that struggle with offtake. Instead, renewable energy consultant Prof. Ioannis Tsipouridis advocates starting with smaller, demand-driven projects that can build markets, demonstrate commercial viability and lay the groundwork for scale. 

  • Prof. Tsipouridis is a Senior Research Fellow at Kenya-based Strathmore University and a visiting professor at Kisii University. He is also Director of the Renewable Energy & Climate Change Research Center at the Technical University of Mombasa and Project Manager of two Horizon Europe projects at the same institution. 

  • “What is needed is a redirection of focus toward smaller, demand-driven green hydrogen applications, thus avoiding the massive infrastructure hurdle, the mesmerising financing requirements and the export needs that are part and parcel of gigawatt-scale projects,” he says.

  • Read the full opinion article here (2 min)

African green hydrogen developments secured at least $54.1 million in funding in the first half of 2026, with activity spanning southern, North and East Africa. Five deals across Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Namibia show funding remained concentrated in project development, research, and early-stage green hydrogen value-chain activities. 

  • Egypt accounted for 74% of total funding, while South Africa recorded the highest number of deals, with two transactions worth $10.2 million.

  • Funding comprised a variety of instruments, spanning grants, development funding, blended finance and public-private partnerships (PPPs).

  • Our take: Although the funding amounts remain modest relative to the capital required for large-scale hydrogen ambitions, these early commitments could play an important de-risking role….Read more (2 min)

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Source: Sasol

South Africa launches its first locally-developed electrolyser

Events

🧳 Attend the African Green Industries Summit in Namibia (Sept 9)

🤝 Network at the African Green Hydrogen Summit in South Africa (Sept 15)

👭 Participate in the Women in Renewable Energy Conference in Kenya (Oct 21)

 Jobs

🧑‍💼 Manage key sales accounts at Sungrow Hydrogen (South Africa)

🧕🏽 Lead commercial strategy at Phelan Green Group (South Africa)

👷 Oversee energy infrastructure programs at DBSA (South Africa)

Various 

🔊 GIZ Kenya announces  Green Hydrogen Startup Business Challenge

❓Green hydrogen: made in MENA, built with China, sold to Europe?

✅ Hive Hydrogen: Nelson Mandela Bay’s $5.8bn green ammonia project

🏫 How NWU turned a decade of hydrogen research into industrial reality

🎈 South Africa unveils first locally manufactured hydrogen electrolyzer 

💰 CHIETA invests $0.25m with Wits to build South Africa's hydrogen workforce 

✍️ GIZ SA invites proposals for a Circular Economy Handbook for Green Hydrogen 

Seen on LinkedIn 

The International Power-to-X Hub says, “South Africa uses 2.4 million tonnes of fertiliser a year and imports over half of what it needs. With existing Haber-Bosch facilities and strong renewable resources, it is well placed to produce green ammonia at home, cutting import dependence and reducing the emissions from fertiliser production.”