The Africa Nuclear Business Platform (AFNBP) has announced that its 2024 conference, to be held in Accra, Ghana, from May 27 to May 30, will be attended by Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The host agency for the AFNBP 2024 conference will be Ghana’s Ministry of Energy.

“Many African countries including Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, [and] Rwanda have included nuclear as part of their energy roadmap and have taken concrete steps to achieve their civil nuclear aspirations such as developing a national position and coming up with time-lines,” stated the AFNBP. “It is clear that African countries are serious about nuclear energy.”

Apart from the President himself, the Ghanaian participants in the conference would include Energy Minister Matthew Opoku Prempah and Deputy Energy Minister William Owuraku Aidoo, as well as various senior government officials. Also participating would be African Commission on Nuclear Energy executive secretary Enobot Agboraw.

East and West African countries will have significant representation from senior officials. From West Africa, apart from Ghana itself, there will be representatives from Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Senegal. East Africa will be represented by delegates from Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. The only Southern African State whose participation is currently confirmed is Zambia.

Of these countries, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda (plus Niger) have indicated that they are interested in both large conventional nuclear power plants (NPPs) and small modular reactors (SMRs). Zambia is currently interested only in large NPPs, while Rwanda is focused entirely on SMRs.

At the moment, the only African country with operational nuclear power reactors is South Africa, with the two-reactor Koeberg conventional NPP near Cape Town. Egypt, however, is well-advanced with the construction of its four-reactor El Dabaa conventional NPP, on its Mediterranean coast. The first reactor at El Dabaa is expected to commission in 2026, with all four being fully operational by 2030.