Africa is well-positioned to take the reins as the world's leader in the use of green hydrogen by rapidly expanding its use of renewable energy sources and boosting its overall power

According to the report "Africa's Green Energy Revolution: Hydrogen's role in unlocking Africa's untapped renewables," written with analytical support from McKinsey & Company, Africa's abundant solar and wind resources could be leveraged to produce 30 to 60 mtpa of green hydrogen by 2050, about 5 to 10 percent of global demand. The paper estimates that by 2050, an African hydrogen sector with that level of production could generate between US$60 and US$120 billion in additional GDP growth and create between 1.9 and 3.7 million new employment.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Masdar Chief Executive Officer, said, "This report provides a blueprint for African nations to deliver sustainable, low-carbon growth while extending energy access across the continent. Green hydrogen has the potential to reduce emissions, unlock economic opportunities, and create new and valuable jobs for countries across the Middle East and North Africa region. Masdar has long recognized green hydrogen's potential, with investments as far back as 2008. With several green hydrogen projects underway today around the world – including a number in Africa – we look forward to continuing to work closely with our African partners to maximize the many achievable benefits of green hydrogen highlighted in this report."

Masdar Director of Asset Management and Technical Services, Mohammad Abdelqader El Ramahi, said: "Scaling up green hydrogen is an opportunity to not only build a robust global-export sector on the African continent, but also to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy overall. The grid-connected renewables used for green hydrogen production can feed energy into the grid to provide affordable clean energy to under-resourced areas – notably, in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an average electrification rate of only 48 percent."

The report suggests six broad areas for action beyond investments, including the creation of an integrated master plan; governance; international coordination and mobilisation; the creation of regulatory frameworks for hydrogen exports; infrastructure investments; the acquisition of a highly skilled labour force; and the implementation of project de-risking mechanisms. Masdar, one of the world's premier renewable energy businesses, is working on a variety of green hydrogen generation initiatives. An electrolyzer capacity of 4 gigawatts by 2030 and generation of up to 480,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year are among the goals of the agreements inked between Masdar and Egypt's Hassan Allam Utilities and prominent Egyptian state-backed organisations in April.