Opinion Piece: Developing skills and local industries will be critical to Africa’s green hydrogen opportunity
By Viren Sookhun, Managing Director at Workforce Staffing Africa
Cost has long been one of the biggest barriers to green hydrogen development. While it offers a lower-emission alternative to fossil fuels, it has historically been too expensive to deploy at scale. However, this is beginning to change. Higher global ammonia prices are making green hydrogen and green ammonia more economically attractive, while investment in low-emission hydrogen projects continues to grow.
Africa has the solar and wind resources, land, raw materials and market access needed to become a major global producer. The challenge is that there are not yet enough people with the skills needed to build and operate these projects. As projects move forward, training and skills development need to keep pace.
Opportunity across the value chain
Projects are already being planned in different parts of Africa. Morocco and Egypt have access to markets in Europe, while South Africa and Namibia have their own green hydrogen plans. There is also potential on the east coast in countries such as Mozambique and Tanzania. Africa therefore has the potential to develop multiple green hydrogen hubs capable of supplying markets around the world.
As these projects develop, they will need much more than just the facilities that produce the hydrogen. Ports will need to be built or expanded, along with the infrastructure needed to move products to market. This will create opportunities for construction companies, transport and logistics providers, mining operations, and the skilled workers who will ultimately operate and maintain these facilities.
Manufacturing is another area where Africa could benefit. Countries such as India are already developing the capacity to manufacture electrolysers and fuel cells at scale. Africa has many of the raw materials needed to manufacture this equipment, creating an opportunity to develop more local value-added production rather than exporting raw-materials and re-importing finished products. Developing some of that manufacturing capacity in Africa would create another source of employment and industrial growth as the hydrogen industry expands.
Skills development needs to start now
Taking advantage of these opportunities will require skills across engineering, construction, manufacturing, operations, health and safety, transport and logistics, as well as more specialised technical areas. Currently, workforce development is not taking place at the scale that will be required as more green hydrogen projects progress.
There are, however, some initiatives beginning to address this gap. In South Africa, for example, the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA) is preparing people for the hydrogen economy through its SMART Skills Centres, including an entry-level hydrogen course. This type of training now needs to expand to ensure a pipeline of talent is available as projects move from planning to execution.
International expertise will also be needed, particularly in the early stages of these projects where the required skills are not yet available locally. This should be accompanied by knowledge transfer, with local employees working alongside international specialists to gain the experience needed to take on these roles over time.
This makes early investment in training, reskilling and upskilling even more important. People need to have the basic skills in place before projects reach construction and operation, so that they are able to learn from the international specialists working alongside them.
Preparing for future opportunity
Africa has many of the resources needed to develop a green hydrogen industry, from abundant wind and solar to land and the raw materials used in the equipment these projects require. It also has the potential to develop the ports, pipelines, roads and rail infrastructure needed to move green hydrogen and its derivatives to market. The skills required to build, operate and maintain these projects, however, remain in short supply.
Training, reskilling and upskilling therefore need to happen as projects are being developed, rather than once construction begins. International expertise can help to address some of the immediate skills shortages, but it should also be used to transfer skills to local workers. Starting that process now will help ensure that, as Africa’s green hydrogen industry grows, the skills required to support it become increasingly available across the continent.
