By Asha Elmi - Reporter
Zimbabwe, 28 August 2026 - African countries need to build skills and institutional capacity alongside renewable energy infrastructure, Djibouti's energy minister said at a regional meeting of the International Solar Alliance.
Energy Minister in charge of Natural Resources Djama Mohamed Hassan spoke at the ISA Regional Committee for Africa's eighth ministerial meeting in Victoria Falls, where officials discussed accelerating solar deployment, state news agency ADI reported Thursday.
About 100 participants attended, including energy ministers, investors and development partners, according to ADI.
Hassan said the transition should not focus only on infrastructure, but on sustainable systems to develop and retain technical and institutional skills.
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He called for shifting from short-term training to a continuous training ecosystem involving universities, public institutions and development partners.
Solar energy can create jobs and support entrepreneurship if training aligns with local market needs, he said. Success should be measured not by number of people trained but by whether African institutions can manage their own transition programs, he said.
Discussions covered financing, rural electrification, skills development, technological innovation and South-South cooperation, ADI said. Agenda items included STAR-C centres, financing farm solar projects through the Africa Solar Facility, AI and digitalization, and electric mobility and storage.
The meeting, under the patronage of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, was attended by Zimbabwean Energy Minister July G. Moyo, ISA Director-General Ashish Khanna and African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Mataboge. Delegates adopted recommendations to accelerate solar programs.