The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, has urged financial institutions to support nuclear energy as a reliable and transformative solution for Africa’s energy challenges.

Speaking at the Nuclear Energy Innovation Summit for Africa (NEISA) on July 1 in Kigali, Grossi welcomed the World Bank’s recent policy shift to support nuclear energy projects, calling it a "game changer.”

"Until now, all the doors for international finance institutions' involvement in any nuclear project were simply closed,” Grossi said. "There was no way in which Rwandans or people in West Africa could turn to the African Development Bank or even private banking institutions to participate.”

He pointed out that Africa's growing demand for energy requires practical and scalable solutions, adding that countries were looking at concrete solutions, and "I think this meeting here in Rwanda is precisely about that.”

Grossi commended Rwanda’s commitment to incorporating nuclear energy into its power mix and said the IAEA is working closely with the country to develop necessary frameworks, technical support, and capacity building.

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The IAEA is now partnering with governments to prepare "bankable documents” and facilitate access to international finance.

"We will give the assurance to the financing community that their dollar is well invested,” Grossi said, noting that African countries like Togo, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda will benefit from this new approach.

Ensuring reliable power supply, required skilled personnel

Grossi indicated the complementarity between nuclear energy and renewables – such as hydropower – pointing out that it is a reliable, 24/7 baseload power necessary for industrial growth.

"Nuclear provides you with a 24/7 extremely reliable base upon which you can put other things, apart from being, of course, CO2-free,” he said.

"You cannot be developing industries with blackouts and with very unstable sources of energy.”

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While renewables are the fastest-growing energy source and are celebrated, countries need diversified energy mixes to ensure grid stability and energy security.

Grossi described nuclear as an "industrialising industry” that stimulates economic growth by developing local expertise in metallurgy, chemistry, and engineering.

"There is a human development factor, which is incredibly important, especially ... in developing countries.”

He said the IAEA will work with private and regional banks, following the lead of the World Bank, to unlock funding for nuclear initiatives across Africa.

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Grossi added that the IAEA's core mandate is to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy and that Africa must benefit from the same technologies advancing economies elsewhere.

Daniel B. Ponema, a distinguished fellow of the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center, stressed the importance of nuclear in addressing Africa’s energy poverty, where 600 million Africans still lack access to reliable electricity.

Also, he said, for most of Africa, he said, average per capita electricity consumption ranges from 150 to 180 kilowatt hours, compared to 6,500 kilowatt hours in Europe and 13,000 kilowatt hours in the United States. So, Africa will be a major engine of economic growth in the decades ahead.

"Africa will need abundant, reliable, affordable, clean energy. And as Bill Gates has said, nuclear is the only form of energy that operates day in and day out, season in and season out, virtually anywhere in the world that has been proven to work at large scale. Nuclear is the densest form of energy,” he said.

He indicated that one uranium fuel pellet [which is roughly the size of your fingertip] holds as much energy as 149 gallons of oil or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas or a tonne of coal.

Poneman said Africa must develop the talent and regulatory systems to implement nuclear safely and effectively, and that multilateral financial institutions can play a critical role in this transformation.

He appreciated the fact that the World Bank has reversed its longstanding opposition to supporting nuclear projects.

Linking energy and innovation

Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire, stressed the link between energy and digital innovation, saying that at the heart of artificial intelligence is the need for sufficient and reliable energy.

"When you also look at what the current electrification gap looks like and the current gap when it comes to financing energy, you start to see an opportunity where, as we make sure that we're thinking about the future which is going to be heavily disrupted or modeled with digital technologies and innovations, how then do we use that as a catalyst for the kind of investments that we need to make,” she said.

Ingabire called for regional cooperation in building nuclear SMRs, saying it would make financing and implementation more effective and efficient through pooling resources.