Three stellar colleagues that help me get smart quick
Sharing what I just learned from Meron, Katie, and Rose
One of the best things about the organization I run is learning from colleagues. To share the wealth, here are:
1. Meron Tesfaye on the uncertainties of green hydrogen
Meron Tesfaye just joined the Energy for Growth Hub and is already tearing apart the hype on green technology. Yes, the potential for renewables-powered hydrogen production is gaining steam (see what I did there?), but Meron is an even-keeled scientist and engineer. She dropped a short piece for Cipher Climate News with 6 grounding facts on green hydrogen in Africa, including this nugget:
“Nearly all proposed projects in Africa are conceptual, without binding offtake agreements and far from financial investment decisions.”
Read her whole article here or dig into her African Hydrogen Projects Tracker.
2. Katie Auth on lingering barriers to energy investment
Katie Auth is the clear-eyed policy director at the Hub and my co-conspirator on our latest big blue sky idea, Energy Security Compacts.
Mercifully, Katie just read the IEA’s latest World Energy Investment so we don’t have to. Her 10 takeaways for the poorest countries are all spot-on, but the one that really stuck with me:
The biggest barrier: Cost of capital. Financing costs in emerging and developing economies are currently at least twice as high as in advanced economies or China — and even higher in Africa. This has especially damaging effects on clean energy technologies (which tend to be more capital-intensive, rely more on debt financing, and have smaller operating expenses than fossil fuels).
This all puts even more of a premium on creative solutions to driving down financing costs for energy projects, which IMO means, at least, not just repeating old promises and not lying about subsidies when you use them.
3. Rose Mutiso tackles Black Panther and tech hype cycles on her new Substack
Rose Mutiso is the Hub’s wide-ranging research director. She just launched her own Substack which, very on-brand, is written:
from a unique vantage point – African, scientist, policy wonk, feminist, one-time standup comedian, and a product of the liberal arts.
Her first posts are up on Afrofuturism for Policy Wonks and A Skeptic’s Guide to Tech Hype. You can see why we’re friends. Subscribe to her Substack here.
Enjoy x3.
Aww thanks for the shout!