The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, says Africa cannot rely solely on public budgets to finance its energy infrastructure, hence, it must explore alternative funding sources to meet the continent's growing energy needs. 

He called for innovative financing mechanisms to mobilise capital to bridge energy financing gaps and support industrial transformation by expanding productive capacity and building sustainable industries.  

“Public budgets cannot carry this investment alone. We need guarantees, blended finance, local currency funding, deeper capital markets, and credible public-private partnerships,” he said.  

Dr Forson made the remarks at the 2026 Future of Energy Conference (FEC), organised by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) in Accra on Wednesday, on the theme: “Powering Africa's Industrial Transformation: Energy Systems for Value Addition and Competitiveness.”  

He noted that nearly 600 million Africans lacked access to electricity, while the continent attracted only about two per cent of global clean energy investment.   

That, he said, made industrialisation difficult without addressing both energy and financing deficits.  

Dr Forson noted that African countries must create an environment that attracts long-term private investment into energy infrastructure while ensuring such investments generate jobs, promote value addition and strengthen productive sectors.  

He stressed the need for the continent to break its long-standing cycle of exporting raw materials and importing finished products.  

“Across Africa, we export cocoa and import chocolate. We export bauxite and import aluminium products. Now we risk exporting critical minerals only to import batteries. This must change,” he added.  

The Minister said macroeconomic stability remained essential for attracting investment and sustaining industrial growth. Inflation, exchange-rate volatility, high interest rates, unsustainable debt, and fiscal indiscipline, which increased the cost of doing business.  

Referring to Ghana's significant decline in inflation over the past two years, he said the country's recent economic progress demonstrated the importance of restoring stability as a foundation for the next phase of industrial development.  

Dr Forson urged policymakers to use the improved economic environment as a platform to attract private investment, expand production, and create jobs.  

“Stability is obviously not the destination. It is the launchpad for transformation,” he said.  

The Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Dr Marit Kitaw, said Africa must also rethink where investments in critical minerals and energy infrastructure were located to ensure more value remained on the continent.  

She introduced the concept of “development shoring”, which directed investment towards locations capable of generating the greatest development impact rather than focusing solely on production costs.  

“For Africa, development shoring means locating more processing, component production and green manufacturing closer to the minerals and renewable energy resources, while building local suppliers, technical skills, research capacity and regional markets,” she said.  

Dr Kitaw said the approach would help African countries capture greater value from their mineral wealth while fostering resilient regional industrial ecosystems.  

She explained that development shoring did not reject efficiency but broadened its definition to include resilience, long-term stability, and developmental impact.  

She called for partnerships that extended beyond the purchase of Africa's raw minerals to include joint ventures, co-investment in processing and manufacturing, technology transfer, regional centres of excellence, and long-term offtake agreements linked to value addition.  

“The central question for every partnership should be: what productive capability and what lasting development benefits will remain in Africa after the extraction of the minerals?” she asked.