By Ajong Mbapndah L
A debate over how Africa should power its industrial rise is set to take center stage in Kigali next month, where NJ Ayuk and James Irungu Mwangi will go head-to-head at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit 2026.
The session—“Power Economics: Should Your New Industrial Project Run on Gas or Clean Energy?”—captures a widening split among African policymakers and investors as the continent navigates competing pressures to expand energy access while aligning with global climate goals.
Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, is expected to press the case for fossil fuels as the backbone of Africa’s development. He argues that oil and gas remain indispensable for industrialization and poverty reduction, and that the pace of the global energy transition risks sidelining the continent’s economic priorities.
Africa, he says, should not be forced into abandoning resources that wealthier nations themselves relied on to grow.
Opposing him is Mwangi, a former Global Managing Partner at Dalberg Advisors, who has emerged as one of the continent’s most prominent advocates for green growth. As founder of the Climate Action Platform for Africa (CAP-A) and CEO of Africa Climate Ventures, Mwangi has built his case around what he calls “climate-positive growth”—a model that seeks to align industrial expansion with renewable energy and carbon market opportunities.
His argument rests on the premise that Africa can leapfrog legacy energy systems, using its vast solar, wind and carbon removal potential to attract investment while avoiding the long-term costs of fossil fuel dependence.
The exchange in Kigali is likely to sharpen a debate that has moved beyond policy circles into boardrooms and capital markets. Governments across the continent are weighing how to balance immediate energy needs—where fossil fuels still dominate—with a financing landscape increasingly tilted toward low-carbon projects.
Mwangi’s work through CAP-A has focused on building African-led climate data systems, shaping policy frameworks and backing early-stage ventures in sectors such as distributed energy and agriculture. His approach has earned international recognition, including the Climate Breakthrough Award and a fellowship at the Yale World Fellows Program.
Ayuk, meanwhile, has been one of the most vocal critics of what he sees as externally driven climate timelines that fail to account for Africa’s development gap. He has consistently called for increased investment in oil and gas exploration, particularly natural gas, which he positions as a transitional fuel capable of expanding access to reliable power.
While both men agree on the urgency of tackling energy poverty—still a defining constraint on growth across much of Africa—their prescriptions diverge sharply. For Ayuk, the priority is scaling existing resources to unlock economic activity. For Mwangi, it is positioning Africa within a rapidly evolving global energy system where capital is increasingly tied to sustainability.
The Kigali debate is expected to draw significant attention, not least because of the contrasting styles of the two speakers. Ayuk has described Mwangi as a formidable and media-savvy opponent, underscoring expectations of a closely contested exchange.
As African economies chart their energy pathways, the outcome of such debates may matter less than the signals they send: to investors, to policymakers and to a continent seeking to define its own trajectory between growth and transition.
*Mwangi, the climate strategist, should not be confused with James Mwangi, the Kenyan banking executive, who operates in a separate field.
