The Africa Technology Expo (ATE) is an enterprise-first event designed to bring together senior executives and innovators to do business in technology. It is a platform where enterprises, operators, and industry giants converge to showcase innovations, build partnerships, and deliver tangible results. The 2025 edition of the Africa Technology Expo, themed “Africa Does Tech Business,” stood as a premier gathering of the continent’s top executives, innovators, policymakers, and investors. Its mission was clear: to position Africa as a technology-driven powerhouse by fostering impactful collaborations and conversations that will shape the continent’s future. With a strong focus on hardware, telecoms, software, and renewable energy, the Expo created an enabling environment for enterprises to chart Africa’s technological and sustainable growth.
One of the landmark highlights of the event was its Renewable Energy Focus, where Dr. Chinedu Okeke, a renowned Sustainable Energy and CNG Finance Consultant, played a central role. His contributions underscored the vital connection between financial innovation and energy transition, emphasizing how Africa can unlock clean technologies at scale. Dr. Okeke was featured in a Fireside Chat titled “Can’t We Just Switch to Solar? Oil & Gas vs Renewable Energy in Africa,” a session that sought to answer one of the most pressing questions in Africa’s energy debate: whether solar could serve as a complete alternative to oil and gas.
In his interventions, Dr. Okeke stressed that while solar and other renewable solutions hold immense potential, the financing gap remains a major barrier slowing down widespread adoption. Drawing from his work in designing retail financing models for CNG vehicle conversions, he explained how similar risk-sharing frameworks could be applied to solar and other renewable projects. His presentation highlighted the urgent need for regulatory and fiscal reforms to encourage renewable investments, the recognition of CNG as a transitional fuel that can support cleaner energy while renewables scale up, and the necessity of unified stakeholder commitment to blending fossil resources with renewable energy for a balanced transition.
The Fireside Chat pointed to a future where Africa must build investment-grade financing structures to de-risk renewable projects and attract large-scale capital. Green bonds, blended finance, and innovative loan models were identified as key mechanisms that will increasingly become mainstream in financing clean energy adoption across the continent. For Nigeria, this dialogue reinforced the urgency of diversifying the national energy mix by leveraging oil and gas for short-term revenue while accelerating solar, CNG, and other renewables for long-term sustainability.
Across Africa, the focus on renewable energy aligns directly with national priorities to expand access to power, particularly in underserved rural communities, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, improve environmental sustainability, and stimulate industrial growth through green jobs and clean energy value chains. The Africa Technology Expo 2025 demonstrated that this transition is no longer aspirational but an active process being shaped by cross-sector collaborations and innovative financing strategies.
Far from being just a collection of ideas, the Expo proved to be a driving force behind Africa’s technological and energy revolution. Through thought-provoking conversations, creative financing models, and new partnerships, it mapped out a future where technology-enabled finance, renewable energy, and transitional fuels such as CNG will define the continent’s path to development. Nigeria’s call to diversify its energy mix, embrace renewable adoption, and implement fiscal and regulatory reforms that attract investment was strongly reaffirmed at the event.
Dr. Okeke’s active involvement established him as a key thought leader in designing funding frameworks for Africa’s transition to sustainable energy. His insights and practical models bridged the gap between ambition and implementation, showing how policy commitments can be translated into real solutions that empower citizens and industries alike.
The aspirations coming out of ATE 2025 are clear: a continent with widespread renewable energy adoption, supported by strong regulations, creative financing, and the growth of domestic manufacturing capabilities. The path to a cleaner, more equitable, and sustainable energy future has begun in earnest for Africa, with Nigeria well positioned to lead the charge.
