How the East African Community is set to Catalyse Digital Infrastructure and Regional Energy Integration
With data centres set to account for 20 percent of global energy use by 2050, is East Africa on the precipice of a global gold rush as it showcases a wealth of bankable businesses and unparalleled new energy potential?
In 2024, following EnergyNet’s Powering Africa Summit in Washington DC, USA, Marathon Digital Holdings, signalled their intent to invest in East Africa by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Kenya.
That MoU set the tone for what will potentially change the game for the region and the commercial validity for many Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
At the East Africa Energy Cooperation Summit (EA-ECS), taking place in Arusha, Africa’s energy Independent Power Producers and Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing (EPCF) will be united to explore the investment potential and innovations being created by strategically important companies, including Africa Data Centres and iXAfrica.
And at the heart of this regional surge in investment activity sits the East African Community Secretariat, which convenes investors and policy makers alongside EnergyNet, focusing on ‘Resource Wealth, Energy Access and Investment Opportunities.”
Building on the success of the previous year, the summit will foster cooperation across East Africa, reflecting the East African Community’s (EAC) vision of deeper regional integration and the critical role of promoting industrialisation and cooperation among stakeholders.
Success stories, including the Ethiopia-Kenya electricity highway, underscore the transformative potential of cross-border collaboration for economic and social development.
Off-takers are boosting the need for energy generation and the summit will focus on both the mining industry and digital infrastructure.
Led by Ministers from across the EAC and large-scale energy users, over two days, the Arusha Summit will deep dive into opportunities for the private sector, advocating for a diversified energy mix to maintain grid stability to support major industrial growth, as well as Commercial and Industrial generation.
“Energy is a pillar for development and growth and is crucial for the functioning of the economies of the East African Community Partner States,” said Andrea Malueth, the EAC Deputy Secretary General (Infrastructure, Productive, Social and Political Sectors).
The EAC Deputy Secretary General added that the East Africa Energy Cooperation Summit will serve as the ideal platform for advancing projects and bringing tangible changes in the industry.
The East Africa Energy Cooperation Summit brings together prominent politicians and leaders from all the eight EAC member countries and their respective energy sectors.
These officials will join the private sector business developers who are shaping the future of East Africa’s energy landscape, serving some 500 million people.
“Ten years from now, the EAC’s middle classes will have more job stability, more opportunities, and more disposable income than ever before. New railways, industries, ports, and tourism will position the region as the number one investment destination globally, taking the title back from both parts of Asia and Latin America,” said Elisa Palmioli, Producer, EnergyNet.