NextBillion - A WDI Publication

The Nordic Africa EV Summit is a working platform connecting Africa’s electric mobility transition with Nordic leadership in transport, energy systems, and battery energy storage. Through twin-city convenings in the Nordics and Africa, the Summit brings together governments, utilities, fleet operators, financiers, and technology providers to move electric mobility from pilots to scalable deployment. With a focus on trade corridors, public transport, fleet electrification, and storage-backed charging infrastructure, the Summit aligns policy, investment, and real-world implementation to enable reliable, low-carbon transport systems even where grids are constrained.

WHY AFRICA NOW?
Africa’s electric mobility market is moving decisively from pilots to platforms, and faster than many expected. More than 200 e-mobility companies are already active across the continent, leading markets are projected to reach meaningful EV penetration well before 2030, and large-scale deployments are underway, from electric BRT fleets in Dakar and Addis Ababa to rapid two-wheeler electrification backed by nine-figure investment rounds. Global OEMs are accelerating entry, with major manufacturers expanding aggressively across Southern and Eastern Africa. Together, these signals point to a structural shift. The next phase of growth will be defined by actors who can integrate grid readiness, battery energy storage–enabled charging, enabling policy, and heavy-duty fleet deployment into bankable, scalable systems that can operate reliably at corridor and city scale.

Join 200+ dynamic leaders from across the U.S. and beyond at the WILD Network’s Leadership for Social Impact Forum.

In a time of rapid AI disruption, political uncertainty, and shifting funding landscapes, it has never been more important to lead with strategic clarity and intention.

Leave with practical tools, strategic insights, and a powerful network of peers committed to thriving forward together.

Join 1000+ dynamic leaders from across 100 countries for the WILD Network’s online Leadership for Social Impact Forum.

Leaders in social impact face distinct challenges at every career stage: breaking through to senior roles, navigating complex organizational transformation, scaling impact with limited resources, and building the next generation of leaders.

In a time of rapid AI disruption, political uncertainty, and shifting funding landscapes, leading with intention requires fresh perspectives and trusted peers.

Connect with a truly global leadership community. Over 1,000 leaders from 200+ organizations across 100 countries will gather online, representing every career stage from emerging professionals to C-suite executives.

You’ll learn from diverse speakers and facilitators spanning the globe, each bringing expertise from the development, humanitarian aid, and social impact sectors as well as private sector companies.

Through interactive workshops, thought-provoking plenaries, and our MentorMatch platform, you’ll build relationships with peers who share your commitment to creating lasting change while navigating similar leadership challenges in their own contexts.

Venue is located at the Ocean Breeze Hotel and Conference Center, Strand, Western Cape, South Africa.

About the 2026 Conference
The high energy density of Lithium-ion battery systems stands as a cornerstone in contemporary portable and stationary electrical energy storage. This paradigm shift demands a fresh set of skills and a multidisciplinary approach in engineering and science, ushering in concepts like thermal runaway and propagating circuit board failures. Balancing these challenges, the safety, reliability, usability, and cost-effectiveness of lithium-ion battery systems emerge as pivotal factors, rendering this technology not only viable but also low-risk.

In South Africa, the adoption of lithium-ion technology is gaining momentum on both residential and commercial fronts. The nation’s proactive stance positions it to lead the charge in advancing this technology throughout the African continent.

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Call for Presentions
Calling for academia, suppliers, system integrators, government and association speakers to share your market leading products, research, and how Lithium ion technology can benefit energy storage, clean energy and smart gid stabilization to future customers, academia and world leaders.

Email us to submit your proposal for presentation at contact@beasfa.com

Why Africa Must Embrace Shared Ownership?

In the global competition for capital, size matters.

The breakdown of multilateralism and aid flows, alongside rising conflict in the Middle East, is redrawing capital allocation and sharpening investors’ search for stability and scale. Scale has also become a defining corporate imperative, as leading nations in Asia and North America are leveraging advanced technological expertise – from clean energy and digital platforms to manufacturing and finance – to project influence through their major companies. As for Europe, having created the world’s most integrated common market, it is now seeking to better harness this strength to foster more truly continental champions like Airbus, recognising the cost of overlooking this fundamental shift:

Scale is no longer an option. It is the first line of defence.
In this new world, can Africa rise to the occasion? The continent has demonstrated resilience, with growth rates rising, sovereign ratings improving, and the AfDB securing record replenishment. But as the European experience has shown, if Africa is to compete on the global landscape, reaching the necessary scale will require not only removing the physical and regulatory barriers but also encouraging the emergence of truly continental champions and projects. Achieving this will mean moving beyond a mindset sometimes anchored in economic patriotism and embracing a new vision: shared ownership.

Shared ownership offers Africa its clearest path to scale.