What other African countries can learn from Egypt’s wind power push

Egypt is betting that building wind turbines in the country can help it build a renewable energy industry, positioning it as a template for Africa’s push for renewable energy industrialisation.

The country signed a deal with China’s Sany Renewable Energy to develop a 2,000MW wind project in the Gulf of Suez alongside Egypt’s first wind turbine manufacturing plant. The project is expected to connect to the national grid within 23 months of final agreements, while the factory is intended to supply Egypt and potentially export equipment across Africa and the Middle East.

Even though Egypt’s project is in its early stages, energy experts said its emphasis on scale, local manufacturing and technology transfer could offer lessons for other African countries struggling to turn renewable energy ambitions into functioning infrastructure.

That includes a project in Nigeria, where a 10MW wind farm took nearly two decades to begin producing electricity. The difference highlights a broader challenge for Africa’s renewable energy push: how to move beyond importing equipment and announcing projects to building the financing, industrial capacity and policy stability needed to deliver them at scale.

“The contrasts are stark,” said Fadhel Kaboub, an associate professor of economics at Ohio’s Denison University. “We have a project in Nigeria that took two decades to come online, whereas we have one project in Egypt that looks like it’s going to really take off.”

Kaboub cautioned Egypt’s deal is not yet proof of success. However, its combination of scale, manufacturing and a Chinese technology partner could give it a better chance of attracting investment and coming to fruition quickly, he said.

“For manufacturing anything to be profitable, efficient and successful, you need economies of scale,” he said. “The problem with every African country is that our internal markets are too small. We don’t have the economies of scale to industrialise one country at a time.”

Egypt’s plan is part of a broader effort to localise renewable energy technology, increase local content and leverage the country’s trade links to export equipment. The government has said the factory will help reduce reliance on imported equipment while building an industrial base around renewable energy.

Kaboub said Egypt needs to ensure co-operation with Sany results in meaningful technology transfer rather than simply creating another form of dependence on foreign manufacturers.

“If the Chinese partner fully retains control over the technology and there’s no transfer of technology, then we’re looking at another cycle of dependence,” he said.

Nigeria’s experience illustrates how project design can be as important as the technology itself.

The 10MW Lambar Rimi wind farm in Katsina State was contracted to the French wind turbine manufacturer Vergnet in 2010, with completion scheduled for 2012. The project was funded by the Japan International Co-operation Agency and was designed to use 37 turbines rated at 275kW each.

The project stalled for years before being taken over by the Katsina State government. It was eventually commissioned in September 2025 after the state added 10MW of solar capacity.

Dr Dola Oluteye, founder of the Patna Initiative and a senior fellow in energy and transport policy at University College London’s Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, said the comparison should not be framed simply as Nigeria’s failure versus Egypt’s success.

“The useful question is what Egypt has built into its project structure that Nigeria left unresolved for years,” Oluteye said. “The cost of capital is the binding constraint, not the resource.”

The International Energy Agency said the cost of capital for utility-scale clean energy projects in Africa is at least two to three times higher than in advanced economies and China. Africa attracts about 2% of global clean energy spending despite accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s population.

Oluteye said Egypt’s decision to structure the new wind project in local currency is particularly significant because it reduces the currency mismatch that can undermine African power projects that are financed in dollars but earn revenue in local currencies.

The industrial component could also change the economics and politics of future projects.

“While Nigeria purchased 37 turbines, Egypt is attempting to buy the capability to make them,” Oluteye said.

African countries could use their collective market to negotiate better terms from technology providers, including requirements for local manufacturing and technology transfer.

“If we form a negotiating bloc with a joint industrial policy, we can probably get better terms for technology transfer and joint ventures that could transform the continent at scale,” Kaboub said.

“If something is new, especially in Africa, you want to pilot it first,” Kaboub said, adding stronger feasibility studies, affordable financing, clearer project ownership and policy continuity are critical.

“The implementation of policy is what is critical, not the fact that you have 50 policies on your website or in your government documents.”