Creating an Opportunity Space for Green Hydrogen in West Africa

Increasing attention on sustainable hydrogen as the 'fuel of the future' to achieve net zero is often coupled with a focus on Africa's vast renewable energy potential to produce low-cost hydrogen. This Capstone project, supporting the United Nations Development Programme Sustainable Energy and Climate Hubs, evaluated the feasibility of hydrogen in West Africa and outlined strategies for governments to establish a robust hydrogen ecosystem. Despite an ambitious Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) strategy, national frameworks and on-the-ground implementation are limited. West Africa therefore offers valuable insights into how scaling may look like in practice and its role in driving equitable growth and sustainable development in developing countries. The research was synthesized into a slide-deck report that supports UNDP in engaging country offices on the topic of hydrogen and in supporting country governments to take ownership of national implementation.

The key finding was that hydrogen is a long-term vision, not a quick fix. While it presents opportunities for net-zero aligned development – enhancing food and energy security, water and energy access, and driving industrialization – significant challenges remain. Some are general to scaling hydrogen anywhere (e.g. high costs), while others are exacerbated in the West African context (e.g. uncertain demand, financing difficulties). The report outlined a ‘no-regret’, multi-stage approach to implementation based on careful planning and preparation, focusing initially on capacity building before launching demonstration projects by industrial clusters. Over the long term, scaling regional trading corridors in power, water, minerals and hydrogen is key for cost-competitiveness and to open development opportunities for all countries in the region.