Adaptation
Mitigation
Energy
Renewables

Cotonou Roadmap on the Development of Renewable Energies in Africa

The Cotonou Roadmap for Renewable Energy Development in Africa is the new collective document promoted by non-state actors gathered at the Climate Chance Africa 2025 Summit in Cotonou, adopted on 27 and 28 October 2025.

In continuity with the Roadmap for Sustainable Housing in Africa, adopted in Yaoundé in 2023, the Climate Chance Africa 2025 Summit, held in Cotonou on 27–28 October, provided an opportunity to discuss and then adopt the Cotonou Roadmap for the Development of Renewable Energies in Africa.

This Summit combined a clear-eyed assessment of the continent’s energy challenges with a strong determination to accelerate action, as recalled by the Mayor of Cotonou, Luc Atrokpo:

“Africa is on the front line of the climate crisis, but wants to position itself on the front line in finding solutions. The fruitful exchanges during the Summit reflect concrete commitments to action: the Roadmap for Renewable Energies must be the foundation of this action.”

Prepared in advance with stakeholders from the renewable energy sector and the networks involved in Climate Chance’s Strategic Orientation Committee, this Roadmap was debated during five thematic workshops and one dedicated plenary session during the Summit. We are pleased today to share the final version adopted in Cotonou.

The Cotonou Roadmap particularly emphasizes:

  • the need to ensure that Africa has access to sufficient, reliable, and affordable energy;

  • the synergy between strengthened public funding and private investment to mobilize resources commensurate with the challenges;

  • the reinforcement of a robust economic ecosystem, built on training, the exchange of best practices, and the dissemination of technologies adapted to local contexts;

  • the key role of local authorities in deploying renewable energies and ensuring territorial ownership of projects;

  • the anchoring of Africa’s energy transition in equity, gender equality, and poverty reduction, so that no one is left behind;

  • the recognition of renewable energies as a lever for climate adaptation—particularly by securing energy access for vulnerable communities.

The next Climate Chance Africa Summit, to be held in Abidjan in October 2026, will provide a key moment to assess progress made in the development of renewable energies on the continent and to measure the implementation of the Roadmap’s recommendations.

If your organisation is a network of businesses, local authorities, or NGOs, we invite you to express your interest in endorsing this Roadmap. Please write to us at the following address, confirming your agreement with the text and attaching your logo: enr@climate-chance.org