COMESA and ARE sign MoU to accelerate renewable electricity access and investment across Eastern & Southern Africa
Brussels, Belgium | 24 September 2026 – The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Alliance for Renewable Electrification (ARE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation on renewable electrification, investment and sustainable energy access across Eastern and Southern Africa.
The MoU was signed at ARE’s Green Industrialisation Days (GID) in Brussels, a gathering where public and private stakeholders share market intelligence, forge new partnerships and fast-track renewable energy projects that drive the green industrialisation of commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses in emerging markets.
The agreement brings together COMESA, a regional economic community of 21 African Member States with a combined population of more than 640 million, and ARE, the global industry platform for renewable electrification in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, which federates more than 170 renewable energy companies with a combined turnover exceeding EUR 58 billion.
At a time when countries across the region are seeking to expand reliable and affordable electricity access while strengthening energy security and responding to climate change, the MoU provides a framework for closer collaboration between public institutions and a united private sector.
Work under the MoU will focus on turning regional priorities into concrete opportunities on the ground. Together, COMESA and ARE will produce joint knowledge products, deliver training workshops and organise study tours, while systematically channelling private-sector input into policymaking to drive results at scale.
The two organisations will also work on project preparation and investment readiness, helping developers build scalable business models and bankable project pipelines, and will facilitate targeted matchmaking at industry events to catalyse new business relationships.
Finally, their knowledge exchange and convening activities will build on existing regional platforms, connecting an enabling policy environment with a stronger flow of investable projects and fostering sustained public-private dialogue.
“Energy is the backbone of regional integration and industrial development. Our Member States have set ambitious goals for electricity access and energy security, and meeting them will require the full engagement of the private sector. This MoU with ARE gives us a structured channel to bring industry expertise into our regional policy work and to mobilise the investment our region needs.”— Ambassador Dr. Mohamed Kadah – Assistant Secretary General Programs.
“Regional ambition needs private-sector delivery. By combining COMESA’s political leadership across the region with the collective strength of the private sector that ARE represents, we are bringing policymakers and industry to the same table, so that more projects reach financing and more people and businesses gain access to clean, reliable power.”— David Lecoque, CEO of ARE