Green hydrogen opportunities key to unlocking economic growth: Ramokgopa
@GovernmentZA / X
Ramokgopa highlighted green hydrogen as a key driver for South Africa's economic growth, addressing structural challenges in energy and logistics while creating downstream value from mineral resources like platinum and vanadium.
He emphasised green hydrogen's dual role in decarbonising hard-to-electrify sectors, such as transport and heavy industry, while boosting energy security and supporting the mining sector's revival through demand for transition minerals.
Ramokgopa stressed the importance of continental policy alignment to unlock Sub-Saharan Africa's renewable energy potential, which could attract greater global investment and foster industrial development.
At the media launch of the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit on Tuesday, electricity and energy minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa emphasised that South Africa's future energy mix must be strategically aligned to solve economic challenges, with green hydrogen positioned as a central lever.
Speaking at Isondo Precious Metals in the OR Tambo Special Economic Zone, Kempton Park, Ramokgopa said the country's energy problems are not simply technical but economic at their core. 'We are resolving an economic problem with energy manifestations,' he said.
South Africa cannot grow if electricity is unreliable or unaffordable.
Kgosientsho Ramokgopa
Ramokgopa spoke candidly about how the government is treating the energy crisis as a matter of national importance. Drawing from his engineering background, he argued that solving the crisis requires a deep understanding of the root problem, namely, that South Africa's economy has stagnated due to structural constraints, primarily in logistics and energy.
'The structural constraint to the South African economy can be identified as twofold: inefficiencies in logistics and challenges related to the electricity deficit,' Ramokgopa said, echoing views previously raised by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.
As part of the state's plan to respond to these constraints, green hydrogen has emerged as a potential contributor to both energy diversification and economic development. Ramokgopa pointed to the dual importance of this emerging industry: on one hand, green hydrogen could help decarbonise sectors like transport and heavy industry; on the other, it opens doors for South Africa to beneficiate its mineral resources and create downstream value.
Cabinet has already approved a Critical Minerals Strategy, led by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, aimed at identifying and leveraging minerals essential to the global energy transition. The strategy identifies minerals such as platinum, vanadium, manganese and rare earth elements that are critical to producing green hydrogen and associated technologies like fuel cells.
Ramokgopa described the potential as a 'resurgence of the battery and fuel cell economy', which he believes could revitalise the mining sector's contribution to GDP and employment.
Mining has contracted in recent years, but the demand for energy transition minerals offers a chance to reposition it.
Kgosientsho Ramokgopa
On the sidelines of the launch, Ramokgopa expanded on these themes in an interview. 'Green hydrogen is a big part of South Africa's growth story because it allows us to beneficiate our upstream endowments. Mining, particularly for minerals like platinum, has one of the highest employment absorption capacities,' he said.
He added that green hydrogen supports not only the decarbonisation of electricity, which remains South Africa's largest source of emissions, but also transport, where traditional renewables like solar are less effective. 'Green hydrogen gives us diversification in energy sources and could play a role in sectors where electrification is difficult,' he said.
However, Ramokgopa acknowledged that the current cost of green hydrogen remains prohibitive. 'The technology is still maturing, and we're not yet competitive, but over time we expect costs to come down.'
He also noted the need for regional alignment across the continent. 'Sub-Saharan Africa has the potential to produce 60% of the world's renewable energy, but currently receives less than 1% of global investment. He said that the summit, taking place 12-13 June at the Century City Conference Centre & Hotel, is about aligning policies and coordination to change that.
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