Africa Climate Summit 2: Driving Africa's Clean Energy Future

📍Addis International Convention Center (AICC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Location	CIFF Pavillion
Date	8-10 September 2025
Contact Person	Leslie Igiraneza : ligiraneza@bayesconsultants.com /+254 757 674 466

About the Africa Climate Summit 2 (ACS 2)

The Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS 2), convened by the African Union Commission and hosted by the Government of Ethiopia, will take place from 8-10 September 2025 in Addis Ababa. The theme for this year's summit is "Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa's Resilient and Green Development." Building on the inaugural summit in 2023, ACS 2 brings together leaders, innovators, policymakers, financiers, and communities to advance Africa-led climate action. The event focuses on mobilizing investments, fostering partnerships, and accelerating solutions for climate resilience, energy transitions, and sustainable development across the continent.

As part of our pavilion at ACS 2, The Children’s Investment Fund (CIFF), supported by Bayes consulting, is coordinating a series of high-impact side events. These sessions aim to spotlight innovative strategies for electricity demand stimulation, electric grid modernization, and clean energy financing, aligning with broader ambitions such as the Mission 300 Declaration to connect 300 million more Africans to reliable electricity by 2030.

Meet the Organizers

Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)

CIFF is an independent philanthropic organization dedicated to transforming the lives of children and adolescents in developing countries. With offices in Addis Ababa, Beijing, London, Nairobi, and New Delhi, CIFF partners with governments, NGOs, and the private sector to drive systemic change in areas like climate action, energy access, nutrition, health, and education. In the climate space, CIFF invests in scalable solutions to reduce emissions, enhance resilience, and promote equitable energy transitions, supporting initiatives that align with global goals like the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Bayes Consulting

Bayes Consulting is a Nairobi-based technology and strategy firm specializing in transforming Africa's energy and climate sectors through emerging technologies, including blockchain, data analytics, and digital platforms. We research, analyze, develop, and deploy innovative solutions to address challenges in energy access, grid optimization, and sustainable development. Our work emphasizes collaborative partnerships with utilities, regulators, and private actors to co-create evidence-based models that drive economic growth, reduce carbon emissions, and foster climate finance mobilization.

Our Flagship Project: Data-Driven Utility Management for Demand Response and Incentivizing Green Energy Transition in Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa faces persistent challenges in energy access, grid reliability, and utility viability. Despite expanding renewable energy capacity, countries like Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and Ethiopia grapple with underutilized electricity surpluses due to limited demand, infrastructure constraints, and inflexible demand side management approaches. Meanwhile, over 570 million people lack electricity, and traditional biomass fuels dominate cooking, exacerbating health issues, deforestation, and emissions.

Supported by CIFF, Bayes Consulting leads this ambitious project in collaboration with partners like Gamos East Africa (MECS), Drive Electric, KK Advisors, EED Advisory, and Verst Carbon. Aligned with the Mission 300 Dar-es-Salaam Declaration, the initiative unlocks latent electricity demand and optimizes grids through strategic interventions in electric cooking (e-cooking), electric mobility (e-mobility), and digital demand-side management (DSM).

The project is structured around five interconnected workstreams:

• Electrification of Cooking for Demand Stimulation: Accelerating e-cooking adoption in households and institutions via market assessments, pilots, business models, and policy advocacy.
• Advancing E-Mobility as a Demand Driver for Renewable Energy: Piloting EV ride-hailing with solar charging and vehicle-to-grid integration in Nairobi, plus market studies for Ethiopia and Tanzania.
• Demand-Side Management (DSM) Platform for Grid Optimization: Deploying IoT-enabled platforms and smart meters for automated demand response, dynamic pricing, and real-time monitoring.
• Budget Neutrality Strategies for Energy Transition: Developing fiscal models using carbon finance, voluntary markets, and appliance financing to ensure cost-effectiveness.
• Enhancing Regulatory Frameworks and Tariff Structures: Assessing tariffs and regulations to design consumer-centric pricing and harmonized policies for regional integration.

Our wider goals include increasing energy access for millions, accelerating Africa's energy transition to renewables, reducing carbon emissions through decarbonized sectors like cooking and transport, and mobilizing climate finance via innovative mechanisms. By stimulating demand, strengthening utilities, and building coalitions, we aim to create scalable models that deliver affordable, sustainable electricity while promoting economic opportunities and environmental health.

We invite you, as a distinguished expert, to participate as a speaker in the side event(s) indicated in the email body. Your insights will be invaluable in shaping discussions and outcomes. Below are the event details, including backgrounds, objectives, and desired outcomes. Locations, dates, and times within the summit are TBD and will be confirmed upon your confirmation.

E-Mobility Side Event Concept Note

Event Details  

Title:	Catalyzing Electric Mobility Investment to Decarbonize Transport and Enabling Grid Flexibility
Location:	CIFF Pavilion
Date & Time:	Day 2 September 8th 2025, 14:00 – 14:45

 

 Background  

Africa is experiencing rapid urbanization and motorization, with transport emissions projected to more than double by 2050 without intervention¹. At the same time, the continent’s renewable energy capacity is expanding, yet challenges such as variable demand, underutilized infrastructure, and grid integration constraints persist. Electric mobility offers a strategic solution simultaneously decarbonizing transport and serving as a stable demand anchor for renewable energy deployment.² 

By accelerating electric vehicle adoption, countries can create flexible, predictable demand that supports renewable integration, enhances grid utilization, and attracts further clean energy investment. However, scaling e-mobility in Africa requires coordinated action among multiple stakeholders such as governments, private sector innovators, development partners, financiers, and civil society. It calls for targeted policies, innovative business models, infrastructure deployment, and the creation of enabling ecosystems that align transport electrification with renewable energy growth. 

Crucially, these efforts must also adhere to the principle of budget neutrality, guaranteeing the design of interventions in a fiscally responsible manner. This can be achieved through mechanisms such as innovative financing models, blended financing and concessional loans, carbon credit monetization, and private-sector–driven investment models to help de-risk private investment without adding to sovereign debt burdens. Budget-neutral approaches help governments scale clean transport infrastructure while safeguarding fiscal space for other development priorities.

This side event at the ACS 2 will explore the transformative potential of electric mobility as a demand driver for renewables in Africa. The event will be hosted in the form of dynamic panel discussions, bringing together leading experts and practitioners in the e-mobility space across Africa from Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, and the development partners. The discussion will examine practical pathways, market enablers, and policy actions to catalyze EV uptake while decarbonizing transport and strengthening Africa’s clean energy transition.

 

 

 

Event Objectives  

1. Showcase successful business models, technologies, and lessons learned from e-mobility innovators in Africa

3. Identify enabling policy, regulatory, and investment frameworks that align EV uptake with renewable-powered charging systems, local value creation, and climate resilience.

4. Highlight the role of e-mobility as a strategic driver for renewable energy demand in Africa’s transport and energy transition agendas.
5. Promote budget-neutral approaches to scaling e-mobility, ensuring interventions are fiscally responsible, leverage private capital, and avoid unsustainable burdens on public finances.

Provisional Speakers

Speaker	Role/Organization
Murefu Barasa	Founder and Managing Partner – EED Advirory
HON. Dr. Alemu Sime Feyisa	Minister of Transport and Logistics - Ethiopia.
Romano Francis	CEO - Drive Electric
Toni Heigl	Co-Founder and Managing Partner - Wahu Mobility
HON. Mansour Elimane KANE	Ministry of Infrastructure, Land Transport and Opening Up - Senegal
Dr Kiplagat Jeremiah	Kenya Power
MJ (Thinus) Booysen	Professor of Engineering, Stellenbosch, Head of E-mobility Research Group - Stellenbosch University
Tesfagebriel Tekola Endale	Global Green Growth Institute
Paul Isaac Musasizi	KIIRA Motors Corporation
Hanna Maxine Mueller	C40 Cities Finance Facility
Warren Odanje	Executive Director - Africa E-Mobility Alliance

 

Run of Show

Time	Segment	Lead	What happens
14:00–14:05 (5m)	Opening	Moderator:  Barasa Murefu	Welcome participants, introduce the session theme on e-mobility, outline objectives, and set the tone for the discussions.
14:05–14:15 (10m)	Keynote speech	HON. Dr. Alemu Sime Feyisa	Deliver a keynote on Africa’s e-mobility transformation, highlighting policy direction, investment opportunities, and regional collaboration with examples from Ethiopia
14:25–15:15 (50m)	Opening the scene and Panel discussions	Moderator: Barasa Murefu	The panelists are listed below. ·      Romano Francis  ·      Toni Heigl  ·      Dr Kiplagat Jeremiah ·      MJ (Thinus) Booysen  ·      Paul Isaac Musasizi  ·      Hanna Maxine Mueller ·      Tesfagebriel Tekola Endale ·      Benjamin Boakye
15:15–15:25 (10m)	Audience Q&A	All	Prioritized questions on e-mobility, innovative financing, manufacturing, and policy support
15:25–15:30 (5m)	Close & commitments	Moderator	Summarize actions and next steps

 

 

What We Aim to Achieve

Through these side events and our pavilion activities, we seek to:

• Build coalitions among utilities, governments, financiers, and innovators for collaborative pilots and scaling.
• Generate actionable blueprints, policy recommendations, and financing models to stimulate demand for renewables.
• Advance Africa's energy access, transition to low-carbon economies, emission reductions, and climate finance mobilization.
• Position utility reforms as pillars of inclusive, resilient growth under ACS 2 and Mission 300.

We would be honored by your participation as a speaker. Please contact Leslie Igiraneza (ligiraneza@bayesconsultants.com) to discuss your role. Together, let's shape Africa's climate future!

 

Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)