Europe has set an ambitious target of producing 10mn tonnes of renewable-based hydrogen by 2030, and importing the same amount — and, as so many times before, it is looking to Africa to supply the resources it needs.

Africa has “extraordinary green hydrogen potential”, according to a joint EU/Africa Union report. But any proposed projects will have to be carefully financed and implemented if the EU is to avoid the colonial mistakes of the past, and ensure that the more than 600mn Africans with no access to electricity also benefit from the hydrogen economy.

Green hydrogen — made from renewable sources, such as wind and solar — could play a vital role in replacing fossil fuels in hard-to-decarbonise industries, such as steel, chemicals and shipping. “For many industrial sectors and organisations, green hydrogen is the only path to sustainability,” says Donal Cannon, from the non-EU advisory team of the European Investment Bank (EIB), which helped produce the report.