Programme Director,
Her Excellency Commissioner Lerato Mataboge of the African Union Commission,
Excellencies, Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Leaders of industry and finance,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We gather at a defining moment for Africa and for the global energy system.
This forum does not convene to ask whether nuclear energy has a place in Africa’s future. That question belongs to another era. We meet instead to determine how nuclear power will shape the architecture of our development and anchor the sovereignty of our continent in the decades ahead.
For many years, nuclear energy occupied an uneasy space in global discourse. It was admired for its technical sophistication, scrutinised for its safety, frequently deferred in favour of less demanding political choices and is still questioned for its cost. Yet history clarifies fundamentals. As nations confront the twin imperatives of decarbonisation and energy security, a simple truth has reasserted itself. No modern economy can industrialise, decarbonise and secure its sovereignty on intermittent power alone.
Nuclear energy has returned to the centre of strategic planning not out of nostalgia, not out of ideology, but out of structural necessity. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the architects of the atomic age, reminded the world that “there must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry. There is no place for dogma in science.” In our time, that principle must guide energy policy.
The question before Africa is not ideological. It is structural. It is developmental. It is sovereign.
Firm power is not optional. It is foundational. Nuclear energy remains the only dispatchable, zero emission technology capable of operating at scale around the clock, independent of weather volatility, commodity price shocks and geopolitical disruption. It is infrastructure measured not in electoral cycles but in generations.
The global resurgence of nuclear energy is therefore not ideological. It is structural.
At COP28, more than twenty countries endorsed the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050. The World Nuclear Association has positioned this ambition as central to credible net zero pathways. Major financial institutions, such as the World Bank Group, have aligned behind nuclear expansion. The IAEA’s modelling demonstrates that decarbonisation without nuclear growth is economically and technically implausible.
The direction of travel is clear. The question is whether Africa will shape this resurgence or be peripheral to it.
Our continent’s electricity demand is projected to more than double by 2040. Industrialisation, mineral beneficiation, hydrogen production, digital infrastructure and urbanisation will demand reliable, scalable power. More than six hundred million Africans still live without electricity access. Energy poverty coexists with industrial ambition.
We cannot build the African century on structural energy fragility.
South Africa’s experience offers perspective. On the outskirts of Cape Town, Koeberg nuclear power station has supplied roughly five percent of our national electricity from a single site for almost forty years. It has operated at capacity factors consistently above eighty percent, delivered more than two hundred terawatt-hours of carbon-free electricity, and remains among the lowest-cost producers in our system. Koeberg is now undergoing Long-Term Operation licensing, extending Unit 1 to 2044 and Unit 2 thereafter.
For almost four decades Koeberg Nuclear Power Station has delivered stable, clean electricity to our grid with consistently high performance. Nuclear has not been theoretical for us. It has been dependable infrastructure. It has anchored system stability and reduced emissions without compromising reliability.
Nuclear therefore remains core to South Africa’s future energy mix, and we intend to grow our capacity in the coming decades, through our IRP 2025.
Across our continent, nuclear ambition is no longer theoretical. It is measurable.
Egypt’s El Dabaa project comprises four reactors of 1, 200 megawatts each, under construction that represents one of the most significant nuclear infrastructure commitments in modern African history. Nigeria has articulated ambitions of approximately 4, 800 megawatts of nuclear capacity in its long-term expansion pathway. Ghana, Kenya and Uganda are advancing regulatory frameworks under the guidance of the International Atomic Energy Agency. More than twenty African nations have formally signalled interest in nuclear development.
This is not coincidence. It is recognition.
Africa enters this nuclear moment with strategic advantages. We account for approximately fourteen to eighteen percent of global uranium production, with Namibia and Niger among the world’s largest exporters. Our reserves remain significant and underdeveloped. We possess not only demand, but resource endowment.
We must move from exporting uranium to exporting value.
Exporting uranium alone does not constitute sovereignty. Sovereignty is achieved when resources are converted into industrial capability, technological competence and long-term value.
We must move from exporting raw material to exporting expertise.
The technology landscape itself is evolving rapidly. Over eighty small modular reactor designs are under development globally. Two are in operation. Several are under construction. Major economies are investing billions in modular technologies designed for shorter construction timelines, lower upfront capital intensity and scalable deployment.
Small Modular Reactors align with African realities.
They can be deployed incrementally.
They can repower retiring coal sites.
They can use existing transmission corridors.
They can provide both electricity and industrial heat.
They can anchor hydrogen hubs and mineral processing corridors.
The IAEA’s Coal to Nuclear initiative, launched during South Africa’s G20 Presidency, positions nuclear as a strategic pathway to repurpose retiring coal assets, preserve jobs and secure low carbon baseload capacity. For coal dependent regions across Africa, this presents a just transition mechanism that is practical rather than rhetorical.
This is not merely about adding megawatts to a grid. It is about reshaping economic structure.
The barrier before Africa is not technology. It is finance.
While OECD utilities borrow at rates between two and four percent, many African sovereigns face borrowing costs that can exceed twelve or even twenty percent. Projects that are technically sound and economically rational are priced as though they are speculative.
The divergence between perceived risk and real performance inflates tariffs and delays development. In too many instances, the pricing of African risk generates returns disproportionate to underlying volatility.
This dynamic extracts value from our economies before a single kilowatt hour is produced. In many cases, the pricing of African risk has become more profitable than the financing of African infrastructure itself. This must change.
If the world is serious about tripling nuclear capacity by 2050, Africa must be central to that ambition. That requires financing structures aligned with developmental realities. It requires multilateral institutions to move decisively from policy eligibility to implementation. It requires vendor nations to integrate localisation, skills transfer and industrial participation into comprehensive partnerships.
Nuclear programmes demand patience, scale and institutional credibility. They also demand fairness and trust.
The governance framework for African nuclear development is robust, with the IAEA providing global oversight. The Treaty of Pelindaba affirms Africa’s commitment to peaceful use. Continental institutions reinforce transparency and responsibility.
Africa approaches nuclear with deliberation, not recklessness.
South Africa’s nuclear policy is clear. Nuclear energy will be used for peaceful purposes, in conformity with international obligations. It will contribute to energy security, economic growth, skills development and climate mitigation. Our IRP 2025 recognises nuclear as a core component of a diversified energy mix, with significant new capacity envisaged over the coming decades.
We are exploring fleet approaches to procurement to secure economies of scale. We are advancing environmental authorisations and siting licences. We are investing in the development of a Multi-Purpose Reactor to support research, medical isotopes and advanced fuel qualification. We are positioning NECSA as a continental anchor for nuclear development.
We are not asking whether nuclear belongs in Africa’s future. We are planning how it will define it.
The next generation of nuclear technologies offers Africa an opportunity to leap forward. Generation IV designs promise higher efficiency, enhanced safety and improved fuel utilisation. TRISO particle fuel, in which South Africa holds experience, offers extraordinary safety margins and proliferation resistance. Advanced reactors can integrate with desalination, industrial heat applications and hydrogen production.
This is not merely about electricity. It is about industrial ecosystems.
Nuclear energy stimulates high skill employment, advanced manufacturing and long-term supply chains. It builds engineering capability and scientific institutions. It anchors industrial ecosystems that extend beyond electricity generation itself.
Energy sovereignty and industrial sovereignty are inseparable.
Julius Nyerere reminded us that without development there is no independence. In our era, development at scale requires energy at scale. Political sovereignty that rests upon fragile energy systems remains incomplete. True independence demands reliable power that can sustain industry, research, innovation and prosperity for generations.
For too long Africa’s development has been constrained by structural energy insecurity. Grid instability erodes confidence. Import dependency exposes economies to volatility. Nuclear offers a stabilising anchor within that volatility. It provides predictable, long-term operation. It reduces exposure to fuel shocks. It enables decarbonisation without sacrificing reliability.
The global nuclear resurgence is underway. The Declaration to Triple Nuclear Capacity by 2050 signals recognition that credible net zero pathways require firm, clean power. Africa must ensure that this expansion includes our continent not as a passive recipient but as an active architect.
The age of questioning has passed. The age of implementation has begun.
How do we structure bankable programmes at scale.
How do we align regulatory frameworks with financing instruments.
How do we ensure localisation and skills development.
How do we move from feasibility to first concrete.
History will judge this generation not by the debates we convened but by the infrastructure we delivered.
Africa’s development project requires firm, clean and sovereign power at scale. Nuclear energy offers that possibility. It offers reliability without emissions, sovereignty without volatility and industrialisation without fragility.
From this Nuclear Forum at the Africa Energy Indaba, we state clearly:
Africa will approach nuclear energy with responsibility.
Africa will approach it with institutional discipline.
Africa will approach it with industrial intention.
Africa will approach it with sovereign confidence.
We will integrate it into diversified systems.
We will strengthen regulatory independence.
We will negotiate financing rationally.
We will invest in human capital deliberately.
We will not debate indefinitely. We will build.
The nuclear century will not bypass this continent. It will help power the African century.
I thank you.
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