New Blog: Does Sustainable Investing in Africa Still Exist? Yes — But It's Evolving

At the Alpha Global Forum 2025, our Founder & CEO Dr. Herta von Stiegel joined a panel of leaders discussing why strong ESG principles, smart risk management, and powerful financial returns are still reshaping Africa’s energy future.

At the Alpha Global Forum 2025, Founder & CEO Dr. Herta von Stiegel joined a panel of leaders discussing why strong ESG principles, smart risk management, and powerful financial returns are still reshaping Africa’s energy future.

At a time when global capital markets seem to be questioning the value of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, a recent panel of leading voices in African finance tackled a central question: Does sustainable investing in Africa still exist? The short answer? Yes—though the landscape is shifting.

Hosted at the Alpha Global Forum 2025, a consortium of development finance institutions (DFIs), asset managers, and infrastructure developers, the panel aimed to unpack the changing nature of ESG priorities in Africa, with a particular focus on renewable energy and broader infrastructure sectors.

One key theme emerged early: sustainability is still deeply relevant—but it's no longer always labeled as such. Several panelists emphasized that while the language around ESG has become politicized in some regions, especially in Western markets, the underlying principles remain fundamental. Risk management, governance, and long-term environmental resilience are not going away - they are fundamental necessities for successful businesses. They’ve simply been reframed.

For clean and renewable energy investors in Africa, this evolution is good news. Herta von Stiegel, Founder & CEO of Ariya Capital, noted that projects like Lake Turkana in Kenya—the largest wind farm in Africa—show you can generate strong returns while doing good. No corners cut, and the returns are in healthy double digits. She added “We’re developing a large gas-fired power project in Southern Africa, worth close to a billion dollars. It’s aligned with ESG principles and is expected to generate double-digit returns. So this notion that sustainability means lower returns just doesn’t hold up in practice.”

Panelists demonstrated that it is possible to generate double-digit returns while delivering measurable environmental and social impact. In other words, the false trade-off between sustainability and profitability is increasingly being disproven by real-world success and mounting data.

Energy infrastructure emerged as a cornerstone of sustainable development. Not only is it essential for economic growth, but it also unlocks broader innovation—from tech-driven logistics to rural electrification and digital financial inclusion. Panelists stressed the importance of developing African institutional capital markets to support large-scale energy projects. Unlocking local capital through better-designed investment instruments could be the key to scaling renewable energy solutions continent-wide.

Another insight was the urgent need for reporting reform. ESG reporting, once an enabler, has in many cases become a burden. The reporting landscape is fragmented, duplicative, and onerous—often forcing companies in Africa, Europe, and elsewhere to comply with several overlapping standards without generating useful insights or outcomes. The consensus? ESG reporting needs to be simplified, harmonized, and, most importantly, tied back to real risks impacting business operations. 

From a sector perspective, panelists were optimistic about renewable energy, digital infrastructure, mobile finance, and agri-processing as high-impact, high-return opportunities. These sectors are not only resilient but are also creating meaningful jobs, reducing import dependency, and driving inclusive growth.

What’s clear is that Africa doesn’t need to choose between sustainability and returns. As one speaker put it: “If you don’t manage environmental or governance risks, something will blow up—literally or figuratively.” Sustainable investing in Africa hasn’t disappeared—it’s matured. And for investors willing to look beyond the label and focus on fundamentals, the opportunities have never been more compelling.

As we continue to support clean and renewable energy development across the continent, our goal remains the same: to invest in projects that deliver long-term value for people, the planet, and private and public markets.

(This blog was authored by Daniel R. Weber.)