The African continent’s energy transition will be judged by two main measures: the megawatts that reach the grid, and the difference that power makes to the lives of the communities that host these assets. In recent years, our industry has dealt with the first and assumed the second would automatically follow. It does not. Energising Africa means energising people, by design, from site layout to the last day of operations.

The scale of the African energy market makes this urgent. Africa’s renewable capacity reached 82.4 GW in 2025, up nearly 16% in a year (IRENA), and AFSIA tracks a 296 GW solar pipeline. Most of these projects are being developed in rural and peri-urban communities that have waited the longest for jobs and economic development. This begs the question: will these communities be partners or partial observers?

The Lesson South Africa Learnt

South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), launched in 2011, attracted private capital, drove tariffs down and made the country Africa’s largest renewable market, with 16.6 GW installed in 2025. It also wrote people, and their growth, into the contracts with private developers through the Power Purchasing Agreements (PPAs). Bidders were scored on local jobs, local content, community ownership, and socio-economic development SED and enterprise development (ED) spend. Projects commit on average 2% of revenue to SED and 0.63% to ED, and communities hold an average 2.5% to 8.5% shareholding.

Yet by 2024, SED spend stood at 1.3% of revenue against the 2% committed. People-facing benefits arrive far more slowly than megawatts, ultimately leaving people behind.

What the above teaches us is that a scorecard is not a community. A scorecard may set obligations, but it does not build a community. Projects planned around permits, financial close, and community participation have in most cases, become a compliance exercise. Jobs remain unsustainable with many of them ending with construction, and community trusts often leave residents with little real control over the benefits. South African research, development and advisory company Knowledge Pele names these gaps as “lost in procurement”.

A People-Centric Development Vehicle

Knowledge Pele, which is the research, development and social investment arm of the Pele Energy Group, was built to close that gap. We treat every plant as an anchor asset around which skills, enterprises and local industries can grow. REIPPPP obligations are our floor, not our ceiling.

In Touwsrivier, the 36 MW CPV1 solar plant became a catalyst for the town’s revival. Around it, we invest in skills, social infrastructure and a commercial hydroponics farm. Consequently, a large majority of technicians at the plant come from the local community, local SMMEs are granted a chance to participate in the economic value chain, and our training programmes teach practical skills in the classroom and on site.

People Matter at Every Stage

As we energise, we recognise the importance of continued participation from our local stakeholders and our stakeholder engagement team treats people as a design requirement at every stage. 

Development: Before project layouts are fixed, we map stakeholders, build a social baseline and agree with community structures on how the development must be imagined and practiced.

Financial close: We ensure that grievance mechanisms, contracted local targets and Trust structures are costed and written into obligations. When people are involved in financing documents, they form part of the project. As a result, development becomes collaborative.

Construction: We work with contractors on transparent local recruitment, procurement sized for local businesses, and responsive grievance handling.

Operations: Typically, over a 20-year power purchase agreement, we help workers into technical careers and trusts mature into institutions that communities govern.

Lessons 

The lessons for the continent are clear: people should be prioritised before permits, with communities being engaged before project designs are finalised. Social commitments should be made bankable by incorporating them into financing documents, while local content should genuinely mean local, with recruitment and procurement targets tracked. Projects should also establish institutions that communities can trust, supported by clear rules and properly trained trustees. Planning should extend beyond the life of the plant, with investment in skills that remain valuable after construction is complete, helping to ensure that development is sustainable. Applying global standards, such as the IFC Performance Standards, can provide a common benchmark against which all stakeholders can measure performance.

A people-centric develop-ment is not a cost to a project; it is a condition of its success. With a potential 296 GW solar pipeline ahead, we can show how infrastructure is built on this continent: with communities, not around them. Energising Africa means making sure host communities are first to the light.

By Phathutshedzo Mushanganyisi, a community and stakeholder management professional at Knowledge Pele, specialising in social and economic development and stakeholder engagement. Drawing on his experience with renewable energy projects, he ensures Africa’s energy transition delivers inclusive economic opportunities, skills development and sustainable livelihoods for local communities.