Water-smart, grid-light climate tech becomes the backbone of African resilience, not a side bet
Driss Ibenmansour, Partner North Africa
When you spend time on the continent, climate is not a theoretical curve on a chart. It’s droughts in the Sahel, dry taps in Cape Town, and factories shutting down because diesel is too expensive. For years, a lot of “Africa + climate” conversation sat around mega-dams, carbon credits and donor pilots. Useful, but far from the daily reality of a farmer in Morocco or a food processor in Kenya who just needs water and power that actually work.
That is changing fast. All African nations are now officially “water insecure”, and the continent hosts a huge share of the world’s most water-stressed population. At the same time, Africa has world-class solar and wind potential, but still under-penetrated grids and a lot of diesel in the mix. You already see the new model in pockets: mini-grids bundling solar, storage and basic services; early water-tech players attacking leakage and purification; agritech tools helping farmers decide when and what to plant with less water. In North Africa, hydrogen and large-scale renewables are becoming strategic export topics; in sub-Saharan Africa, it’s more about keeping local industry alive. By 2026, I don’t think anyone serious will judge African climate tech only on tonnes of CO₂ saved. The real question will be: did you keep factories running, crops alive and pipes flowing in places where the grid and the state are fragile?
In particular, I expect 2026 to see accelerated demand for:
- Sensor-plus-software platforms that cut leakage and losses for utilities, cities and large users, turning basic flow, pressure and quality data into prioritised interventions in systems where half the water never reaches a paying customer.
- “Power + water” mini-grid and project developers that bundle solar, storage and either irrigation, desalination or purification, selling farmers and secondary cities a resilience contract (more uptime, less diesel), not just kWh.
- Field-level agri decision tools that combine satellite data, soil probes and crop models to tell farmers when to plant, irrigate and rotate, in formats and languages they actually use, so they can grow more with less water.
On the investment side, this goes beyond simple ESG reports. It targets real life indicators like lower opex, higher uptime and increased output.
Climate tech becomes the organising principle for new infrastructure in Africa.
Ben Marrel, Co-founder & CEO
For years, African climate tech was a subcategory of development or CSR budgets. Too many models tried to transplant Western grid logic, farming practices or building standards into places where the underlying infrastructure simply does not exist. Climate was treated as an add-on, not the operating system.
That is changing quickly. Dedicated climate funds have now closed $50m+ vehicles focused on sub-Saharan Africa, while platforms are deploying capital and venture-building support into adaptation, food security and waste at seed stage. Development financiers are shifting too: the IFC is exploring equity stakes in early climate fund managers, and other DFIs are backing off-grid solar, EV fleets and cold chain networks as bankable assets, not just grant projects. On the ground, we see electric mobility, off-grid energy and climate-smart agriculture moving from pilots to thousands of deployed units, often leapfrogging Western infrastructure entirely.
The opportunity is simple: energy, farming and construction in Africa do not have to repeat the mistakes of the West; they can start closer to net-zero by design, if the unit economics work for farmers, builders and fleets.
Where I’d be building in 2026:
- Distributed, revenue-backed energy assets, from village-scale solar to hybrid mini-grids, financed on cashflows instead of endless grants.
- Climate-smart agriculture platforms that bundle inputs, agronomy, insurance and offtake for smallholders facing water stress and volatile weather.
- Low-carbon, locally sourced building systems that reduce cement use and make it economical to construct and later refurbish or recycle urban housing.
In Africa, climate tech that merely measures the problem will fade into the background. The most important companies will be those that quietly redesign how people power homes, grow food and build cities from day one.
CHEck out more industries in Africa
