Rwanda’s Prime Minister Dr. Edouard Ngirente has urged African nations to join forces in exploiting nuclear energy—alongside solar and wind—to close the continent’s widening electricity gap.
Opening the Nuclear Energy Innovation Summit in Kigali, Dr Ngirente warned that Africa’s population is projected to reach three billion within the next 40 years, with the majority living in rapidly expanding cities that will require massive, stable power supplies.
“We are discussing how to ensure that, by 2065, every African has reliable electricity,” he said, noting that about 600 million Africans still live without grid access and rely on firewood or charcoal for cooking and lighting—practices that accelerate deforestation and climate change.
While Africa enjoys abundant sunshine, steady winds and vast geothermal resources, these are unevenly distributed.
Nuclear power, Ngirente argued, can fill the gaps because it delivers large scale baseload electricity with near zero carbon emissions.
He reminded delegates that both the Paris Agreement and the more recent COP 29 declaration recognise nuclear as a legitimate tool for achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
However, that vision demands “serious, well targeted investment,” he said, “Investing in nuclear energy will not only secure our power supply; it will stimulate agriculture, strengthen health systems and drive innovation across the board.”
Ngirente dismissed the misconception that civilian nuclear technology is synonymous with weapons, emphasising that the conference’s focus is peaceful development and innovation.
He cited climate impacts already eroding hydropower output—such as falling water levels in the Zambezi River, which have curtailed electricity generation for Zambia and Zimbabwe—as evidence that Africa needs a diversified energy portfolio.
Rwanda itself plans to expand its generation capacity from 1 GW today to 5 GW by 2050, a target the Prime Minister said will only be met through regional and international collaboration.
“No country can do this alone. By pooling expertise and resources—both within Africa and with global partners—we can unlock every clean energy source at our disposal,” he concluded, urging participants not to let nuclear power’s promise be forgotten in the broader climate action agenda.
