By Thuita Gatero, Managing Editor, Africa Digest News. He specializes in conversations around data centers, AI, cloud infrastructure, and energy.
Africa’s ability to industrialize is under severe threat. The continent’s young population is growing at a staggering pace, projected to nearly double to 2.5 billion by 2050. That will be a quarter of humanity living here. Yet industrialization, the process that creates the jobs and wealth needed to support this population, requires far more than ambition. It requires systems: competent governance, mechanisms that mobilize society, clear pathways for private-sector growth, and a workforce with real, applicable skills. Without these, ambition alone achieves nothing.
The cost of power is only the beginning. Even when businesses can afford electricity, there often isn’t enough to meet demand. Blackouts, rolling outages, and grid instability are daily realities for manufacturers and entrepreneurs. Plans for expansion crumble because production cannot be guaranteed. The promises of industrial growth falter for lack of consistent energy.
The reasons behind this shortage are not purely technical. How energy is produced, who controls it, and the policies that regulate pricing all determine whether power can be delivered sustainably. Political interference, inefficiency in state-owned utilities, and fragmented markets make reliable supply a constant struggle. A business cannot thrive when its lifeline, electricity is governed by unpredictability.
Investment is another hurdle. Building power plants and connecting them to industrial zones requires massive capital. Investors and banks are wary of committing money where returns are uncertain, and where project approvals and permits move at the speed of bureaucracy rather than business. Even promising projects often falter because the systems that should support them are weak or absent.
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Morocco shows that industrial transformation is possible when the basics are handled right. Its factories operate with predictable electricity, investors can make long-term plans, and industries thrive because foundational problems have been solved. Africa’s industrial ambitions will remain a dream unless similar conditions are created across the continent.
Solving Africa’s power problem is not about incremental fixes. It is about confronting reality honestly, from the cost of electricity to the reliability of the grid, from policy frameworks to capital access. Every layer matters. Ignoring the deeper problems while treating the surface symptoms wastes resources, frustrates entrepreneurs, and delays the creation of the jobs the continent so desperately needs.
Ambition alone cannot industrialize a continent. Talent alone cannot overcome blackouts. Africa needs systems and discipline. Until reliable energy becomes a given rather than a hope, industrialization will remain a story of promise unfulfilled. Leadership and execution must align.