From Pitch to Policy: The Opportunities Canada Can’t Miss in Africa
What role could Canada play in expanding sustainable electricity access in Africa?
We put that question to our EWB chapters in our 2026 Flip the Switch! Case Competition. In February, during International Development Week, finalist teams from EWB chapters at the McMaster University and Polytechnique Montréal, came together at the final Pitch Day to tell us what they found.
Their research collectively pointed to a clear opportunity. Across markets such as Senegal and Zambia, growing demand for reliable electricity is creating space for investment, technical expertise, and partnerships. For Canada, this is an opportunity to connect its energy and infrastructure capabilities within African priorities, while opening pathways for Canadian firms.
From Electricity Gaps to Market Opportunities
Senegal presents a development and commercial opportunity for Canada, particularly in renewable energy, grid infrastructure, and energy financing. Electricity access has expanded significantly, but rural communities continue to face gaps as the country pursues a major expansion of its electricity system under Vision Senegal 2050. The strategy aims to increase installed electricity capacity from 1,945 MW in 2023 to more than 12,000 MW, with over 40% coming from renewable sources.
This growing demand for electricity and renewable infrastructure creates space for Canadian expertise and investment. Canada also has an investment framework with Senegal through its Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, providing a foundation for deeper commercial engagement.
Zambia presents an equally significant opportunity for Canada. Hydropower accounts for more than three-quarters of installed generation capacity, but the 2024 drought exposed the risks Zambia faces relying heavily on a single energy source. At the same time, rural electricity access remains particularly low. Together, these challenges create demand for more diversified and reliable energy solutions, an area of expertise for Canada. The World Bank has identified a combination of grid expansion and off-grid solutions, including solar, as part of the pathway to expanding access. Participants highlighted opportunities around solar mini-grids and energy solutions for Zambia’s mining sector, which Canada is deeply invested in. Seven major Canadian mining companies are already deeply involved in Zambia.,Reliable renewable power can bring electricity access while supporting an industry central to the country’s economy and critical-mineral supply chains where Canadian firms already operate..
Canada’s Moment
For Canada, the opportunity is about connecting Canadian capabilities and financing tools to projects that respond to locally identified priorities.
Canada already has tools it can leverage. Through the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, Canada committed $150 million in concessional financing through the International Finance Corporation to support renewable energy investments across Africa, alongside technical assistance for developing bankable projects. The Case Competition participants, suggested embedding Canadian experts in Mission 300 planning structures, which named Zambia a priority country, as well as prioritize the support mechanisms that enable Canadian firms to pilot and scale engineered solar energy systems in Zambia, such as grid-anchored utility-scale solar PV plants integrated at mining-adjacent substations.
In addition, Canada’s Africa Strategy identifies renewable energy and infrastructure as areas for investment, including through FinDev Canada, while its International Assistance Innovation Program (IAIP) is designed to mobilize private investment alongside development finance. For Senegal, the participants recommended that the Government establish a blended finance platform with FinDev and the IAIP that coordinates with Senegalese finance platforms, to ensure viability of private-public partnerships for grid expansion and rural electrification.
The Flip the Switch! Case Competition demonstrated that electricity access can be a point of connection between development priorities and Canada’s economic interests. Senegal’s push to expand renewable electricity creates demand for infrastructure, technical expertise, and financing, and Zambia’s electricity challenges intersect with mining, critical minerals, and industrial development.
We are in a unique moment where Canada can move away from isolated projects toward sustained partnerships, developing a more deliberate strategy for using its development and trade-financing tools to support Canadian firms in African energy markets, while building local capacity and strengthening partnerships.
Africa’s electricity transition is already underway. Now is the time to connect the tools Canada already has, with the opportunities already emerging across Africa.
A special thank you to our two EWB Chapter 2026 Case Competition finalists, Kisha Rawal, Yashasvi Saxena, Maham Choudhry and Sherry Maddahi (EWB McMaster Chapter), Fatou M. Sylla, Alejandra Maria Ayala and Ana Rubec (EWB Polytechnique Montréal Chapter), for their research and recommendations, which informed the writing of this piece.
