ESI Africa, published by VUKA Group (www.WeAreVuka.com), today released its Nuclear Energy volume, examining how more than a dozen African countries are moving nuclear power from policy ambition toward financed, under-construction projects.
The volume arrives as two of the continent's most advanced nuclear programmes reach fresh milestones. In Egypt, the reactor pressure vessel for Unit 2 of the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant, the country's first nuclear facility, was installed in its design position on 9 July 2026, following the same milestone at Unit 1 in November 2025. The four-unit, 4,800MW plant is being built by Rosatom under an intergovernmental agreement signed in 2015.
In South Africa, Koeberg's Unit 2 received its long-term operating licence in November 2025, extending operations to 9 November 2045, following Unit 1's extension to 21 July 2044, granted in July 2024.
The Volume also reviews the reactor technology South Africa is likely to consider once bidding opens for its second nuclear build, targeted at 5,200MW by 2039, comparing the construction cost and delivery record of the AP1000, the EPR, South Korea's APR-1400, Russia's VVER-1200 and China's Hualong One designs.
"The countries that treat nuclear as an execution problem to be solved, rather than a philosophical question to be revisited indefinitely, are the ones who will set the terms for everyone else," said Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl, Editor-in-Chief of ESI Africa.
Elsewhere in the Volume, interviews recorded at the Nuclear in Africa side event at Enlit Africa 2026 and on the sidelines of World Atomic Week gather insight from government leaders, utilities, regulators, financiers and academics from South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Türkiye and France.
Their consistent message is that institutional readiness, financing structures and public trust, not reactor construction itself, will determine whether Africa's nuclear ambitions become bankable reality.
A separate opinion piece by South African nuclear physicist Dr Kelvin Kemm argues that small modular reactors could put nuclear power within reach of mines, municipalities and industrial users across the continent, an opportunity one estimate cited in the issue values at $105 billion.
The full issue is available at https://apo-opa.co/4gXUmev
Continue the conversation at Enlit Africa 2027
This conversation will continue at Enlit Africa 2027, where nuclear will form part of the wider discussion around Africa’s future energy mix, including financing, policy, SMRs, large-scale nuclear and project delivery. If nuclear is part of your organisation’s future plans, pre-register for Enlit Africa 2027, 11 – 13 May at the CTICC in Cape Town, South Africa: https://apo-opa.co/3SwV4ag
