Africa Can Build Its Own Clean Energy Industry — So What’s Holding Us Back?

In this episode of Blindspot Africa, Charles Gyamfi Ofori speaks with Tabi T. Tabi, Founder and CEO of Granville Energy, about Africa’s potential to build a more integrated and competitive clean energy industry. The conversation explores energy manufacturing, value addition, regional integration, and green industrialisation, with Tabi sharing insights from Grandville Energy’s work across the clean energy value chain. He explains why Africa can move beyond importing finished products by developing local manufacturing capabilities and making better use of the continent’s raw materials, energy resources, and technical talent. A major focus is the need for African countries to specialise, collaborate, and build regional value chains rather than each trying to manufacture everything independently. The discussion examines how countries could combine their respective strengths—from raw materials and affordable electricity to infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, and access to markets—to create more competitive regional industries. The episode also challenges the idea that Africa lacks technical capacity, distinguishing between capability and scale. Tabi highlights skills development and the potential to train a new generation of technicians to support the continent’s expanding energy infrastructure. The conversation concludes with a call to move from “talk shops” to action, through stronger public-private partnerships, project preparation, patient capital, better policy implementation, and greater confidence in African businesses and talent. A practical conversation about how Africa can turn its energy resources, people, and markets into real industrial capacity and affordable clean energy.