The COMESA Centre of Excellence on Green Hydrogen is a regional institutional platform established to coordinate, regulate, and accelerate the development of a competitive hydrogen economy across Eastern and Southern Africa.
The Centre is hosted by the Regional Association of Energy Regulators for Eastern and Southern Africa within the framework of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. Its mandate is to provide regulatory harmonization, certification architecture, technical capacity, and investment facilitation necessary for scalable hydrogen deployment.
Hydrogen value chains are transnational by nature. Production zones, industrial users, storage facilities, and export terminals often lie across multiple jurisdictions. The Centre ensures that hydrogen governance within COMESA is coherent, interoperable, and aligned with international standards.
Regional Competitive Advantage
Why COMESA?
The COMESA region possesses the structural conditions required to develop a competitive and integrated green hydrogen economy. With 21 Member States, a population exceeding 600 million people, and expanding regional market integration, the region combines renewable resource endowment, industrial demand, strategic geography, and regulatory coordination capacity.
The COMESA Centre of Excellence on Green Hydrogen is hosted by the Regional Association of Energy Regulators for Eastern and Southern Africa within the framework of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. This institutional positioning ensures that hydrogen development is embedded within regional energy regulation and cross border market coordination.
Renewable Resource Endowment
Green hydrogen competitiveness is primarily determined by the cost and availability of renewable electricity.
COMESA Member States benefit from:
- High solar irradiation levels
• Significant onshore wind potential
• Large hydropower resources
• Emerging geothermal capacity
These conditions enable competitive renewable electricity generation, which forms the foundation for electrolysis based hydrogen production. Dispatchable hydropower and geothermal resources improve system stability and increase electrolyzer utilization rates.
Through RAERESA’s coordination mechanisms, hydrogen deployment can be aligned with regional power market development and cross border electricity trade.
Hydrogen Applications Across the Energy System
Hydrogen in the COMESA region serves multiple technical and economic functions.
Electricity System Integration
Hydrogen supports electricity systems through:
- Long duration energy storage
• Seasonal storage of renewable energy
• Grid balancing and flexibility services
• Conversion of curtailed renewable electricity into stored molecular energy
• Re electrification through fuel cells or hydrogen turbines
Electrolyzers can operate as controllable loads, improving system stability and supporting renewable energy expansion. This function directly complements RAERESA’s mandate in electricity market harmonization.
Industrial Applications
The region hosts industrial sectors with immediate hydrogen relevance:
- Ammonia and fertilizer production
• Steel production through direct reduced iron processes
• Cement and refining operations
• Chemical manufacturing
• Mining operations
Green hydrogen can replace fossil based feedstocks and fuels in these sectors, reducing carbon intensity while strengthening energy security.
Transport and Heavy Mobility
Hydrogen provides decarbonization pathways in sectors that are difficult to electrify through batteries alone, including:
- Heavy duty freight transport
• Mining haulage
• Rail systems
• Maritime transport
• Aviation through synthetic fuels
These applications reduce reliance on imported petroleum products and enhance regional energy diversification.
Strategic Geography and Trade Position
COMESA is strategically located along the Red Sea and Indian Ocean maritime corridors. Established port infrastructure and trade routes enable potential export of hydrogen derivatives, including ammonia and synthetic fuels, to markets in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Regional trade integration under COMESA and alignment with the African Continental Free Trade Area provide a framework for cross border hydrogen value chains, standardization, and certification interoperability.
Critical Minerals and Industrial Development
Several Member States possess mineral resources relevant to hydrogen technologies, including platinum group metals and battery related materials.
This creates opportunities for:
- Local beneficiation
• Clean technology value chain participation
• Equipment assembly and component manufacturing
• Industrial value addition
Hydrogen development therefore supports broader green industrial transformation objectives within the region.
Institutional and Regulatory Capacity Under RAERESA
Hydrogen market development requires:
- Clear production licensing frameworks
• Safety and technical standards
• Carbon intensity accounting systems
• Cross border transport and trade rules
• Infrastructure interoperability
RAERESA provides an established platform for regulatory coordination among national energy regulators. By hosting the Centre of Excellence, RAERESA ensures that hydrogen governance is integrated within regional energy market harmonization processes rather than developed as a parallel structure.
This institutional anchoring enhances predictability, reduces regulatory fragmentation, and strengthens investor confidence.
Regional Scale and Market Integration
Operating within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa framework, the region benefits from:
- Aggregated demand potential
• Cross border infrastructure corridors
• Trade facilitation mechanisms
• Economies of scale in infrastructure deployment
Hydrogen infrastructure such as pipelines, storage facilities, industrial hubs, and export terminals benefits from regional coordination. Market aggregation improves bankability and reduces transaction costs.
Strategic Positioning
Hydrogen in the COMESA region functions as:
- A grid stabilization instrument
• A long duration storage medium
• An industrial feedstock
• A transport fuel
• An export commodity
• A catalyst for industrial modernization
Under the leadership of the Regional Association of Energy Regulators for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Centre of Excellence provides the regulatory architecture, certification systems, and institutional coordination required to translate structural advantages into a competitive and integrated regional hydrogen market.
