Is Africa ready for green hydrogen energy takeoff? – A multi-criteria analysis approach to the opportunities and barriers of hydrogen production on the continent

Abstract

Hydrogen is mostly seen as a potential universal fuel that can be used in place of fossil fuels. Africa has been identified as a potential key player in the production of green hydrogen not only for itself but also for other countries in Europe. There are however several factors that may either positively or negatively affect the development of green hydrogen on the continent. This study identified some opportunities and barriers to the production of green hydrogen in Africa and used the multi-criteria decision-making approach to prioritize them. The study identified the opportunity to export to EU market (20.90%), availability of RE resources (34.88%), youthful population (13.95%), Agenda 2063 (9.30%), and ammonia production (20.90%) as some of the opportunities available on the continent. The availability of RE resources was selected as the highest opportunity for the development of hydrogen energy in Africa. High cost of hydrogen (11.78%), dealing with the status-quo (8.82%), corruption in the energy sector (4.52%), land availability issues (7.06%), political instabilities and insecurity in certain parts of the continent (11.76%), lack of the needed skills and education (11.76%), limited supporting infrastructure and financing (15.38%), and lack of the needed regulatory and legal framework (28.95%) were identified as some of the barriers that could affect the development and use of hydrogen in Africa. The study recommends regional and country level policies and cooperation among the various blocs in Africa as an important tool to remove barriers that could hinder the deployment of hydrogen energy on the continent.