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Bettesworth Construction
Africa

Nuclear Construction Is Rising Globally, While Four African Countries Pursue Newcomer Plans

Global nuclear construction is concentrated in a handful of countries. In Africa, Egypt is building four reactors, while Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda pursue plans with differing levels of readiness.

By Bettesworth Construction Team 6 min read

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Global nuclear construction is concentrated in a small group of countries, led by China. In Africa, South Africa has the continent’s only operating commercial nuclear plant, Egypt is building four reactors, and Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda are pursuing plans at very different stages. Those four are potential newcomers—not four countries with plants already under construction.

What rising nuclear construction does—and does not—show

Construction activity is not the same as operating capacity or electricity generation. Counts also differ across reporting sources because their cutoffs, datasets and definitions are not identical. A useful comparison keeps reactor numbers, capacity and operating output separate.

Source and reporting basis Construction measure What it says
World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2026, as reported by Green Building Africa; mid-2026 snapshot Reactors under construction 73 reactors in 14 countries, including 37 in China. The report says 25–28 were behind schedule and at least 11 had experienced further delays.
International Energy Agency, Global Energy Review 2026; IAEA PRIS analysis accessed March 25, 2026 Capacity under construction 78 GW in 15 countries; 10 construction starts in 2025, with a combined capacity of 12.2 GW.
International Atomic Energy Agency, 2025 global status report; end-2024 snapshot Capacity under construction 64.5 GW(e), with China representing 46% of that capacity.

The WNISR-based account counts 12 construction starts in 2025—nine in China, two in Russia and one in South Korea—while the IEA reports 10 starts. These figures should not be combined or treated as a like-for-like disagreement without a shared definition and dataset. The World Nuclear Association, for example, defines a reactor as “under construction” once first concrete has been poured; other project labels can refer to earlier stages.

Operating output tells a different story

The WNISR 2026 figures reported by Green Building Africa put global nuclear generation at 2,703 TWh in 2025, up 1.1% from the year before. China accounted for the entire increase; output outside China fell 0.2%. Nuclear supplied 8.8% of commercial electricity worldwide in 2025, down from 9% in 2024 and the lowest share in 45 years, according to that report. Its comparison point is a 17.5% share in 1996.

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The same account reports 368.6 GW of operating capacity at the end of 2025, down 0.5 GW year over year: four reactors connected to the grid and seven closed during 2025. The IEA’s Global Energy Review 2026 instead reports 420 GW of total nuclear capacity at end-2025. The measures should not be presented as directly contradictory without reconciling how each source treats capacity, plant status and methodology.

Africa’s operating plants and construction project

South Africa: the operating baseline

South Africa is the only African country operating a commercial nuclear power plant. It is therefore the continent’s sole established commercial nuclear operator in the evidence summarized here.

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Egypt: four reactors under construction at El Dabaa

Egypt is building four large reactors at El Dabaa. Their expected completion dates remain forecasts, not confirmed service dates: the IAEA’s 2025 outlook expected the first unit in 2028, while a September 2026 readiness summary described overall completion as expected by 2030. Those statements refer to different milestones and publication dates, so neither should be read as proof that the plant will begin operating on a fixed date.

Four potential African newcomer countries, at different stages

A national target or an announced start date does not by itself establish that a project is ready to build. The September 2026 IEA readiness summary says assessments consider government commitment, law and regulation, siting, grid readiness, finance, workforce, safety, security, safeguards, and vendor and project development. Readiness categories compare progress; they do not guarantee deployment dates.

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Country Evidence of programme development Key unresolved issue or qualification
Ghana Has a Nuclear Regulatory Authority, a nuclear power institute within the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, and Nuclear Power Ghana. A September 2026 readiness summary says it is progressing through Phase 2 of the IAEA Milestones process, has a research-reactor history, and has discussed cooperation on both small modular reactors (SMRs) and large reactors. Its stated aim is a first plant in the mid-2030s. The October 2026 account identifies unresolved legal questions concerning liability, radioactive waste and spent fuel. It also notes that a large conventional reactor would be significant against a roughly 5 GW national system and could require substantial transmission and system-stability investment.
Kenya An October 2026 account reports an announced construction start in March 2027. The IAEA’s 2025 Africa outlook had named Kenya among countries that completed pre-feasibility studies and made a firm decision to use nuclear power for electricity. By mid-2026, the reactor technology, unit size, financing model and construction company were not clear. The October account calls the proposed start highly unrealistic and reports community and parliamentary opposition. The announcement is not evidence that construction has begun.
Nigeria Has considered nuclear capacity of up to 4 GW. In May 2025, the power minister favored SMRs, according to the October 2026 account. The IAEA’s 2025 Africa outlook listed Nigeria among countries with completed pre-feasibility studies and a firm decision. Nuclear was absent from Nigeria’s 2024 Integrated Resource Plan, its official electricity roadmap through 2045. A considered capacity and ministerial preference do not constitute an approved project or delivery plan.
Uganda Vision 2040 sets an ambition of up to 24 GW of nuclear capacity by 2040. A September 2026 update reports a 26-month site evaluation at Buyende, begun in May 2025 with South Korean support. A proposed first pair of large reactors operating by 2033 remains a plan, not a confirmed build schedule. The October account says no technology provider, financing plan or legislative framework had been confirmed and that grid capacity is inadequate for the proposed scale.

The country lists also depend on date and status definition. The IAEA’s 2025 Africa outlook identified Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria as having completed pre-feasibility studies and made a firm decision to pursue nuclear electricity, with ten additional countries considering it at that time. The later October 2026 account names Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda as pursuing plans; it does not establish that all four have reached the same milestone.

What would have to happen before plans become construction

For a proposed nuclear plant to progress beyond policy intent, governments and project developers need to resolve several interdependent tasks. The evidence on these four countries points to different gaps, but the practical tests are broadly comparable:

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  • Legal and regulatory framework: establish independent oversight and clear rules for licensing, liability, waste and spent-fuel management.
  • Site and project definition: assess candidate sites and settle the reactor type, size, owner, delivery structure and schedule. A site study is preliminary work, not a construction start.
  • Grid integration: determine whether transmission, reserve capacity and system controls can accommodate a large, relatively inflexible generating unit. The challenge is especially relevant where proposed plant capacity is large relative to the existing power system.
  • Finance and delivery capability: secure funding for a capital-intensive, long-duration project and demonstrate the ability to manage procurement, construction, commissioning and long-term operations.
  • People and safety institutions: develop a trained workforce and the capabilities needed for safety, security and safeguards throughout a plant’s lifecycle.

Finance is a particular constraint in the WNISR reporting. Rwanda Atomic Energy Board chair Lassina Zerbo said in a November 14, 2025 Energy Intelligence interview, reproduced by WNISR on November 20, 2025: “None of the African countries today is ready financially to go immediately in implementing the nuclear power plant.” This is an attributed assessment, not a country-by-country financing audit.

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Africa’s potential growth is a scenario, not a construction forecast

The IAEA’s 2025 Africa outlook estimated that roughly 500 million people on the continent lacked electricity. It projected African total generating capacity to rise 47% by 2030 and almost sevenfold by 2050 in its scenario analysis. That context explains the interest in additional power sources, but the projections are not commitments or guaranteed outcomes.

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For nuclear specifically, the IAEA’s high case projected capacity could more than triple by 2030 and increase more than tenfold by 2050 relative to 2022, potentially requiring more than US$100 billion. Its low case projected capacity could approximately double by 2030 and rise fivefold by 2050. These scenarios describe possible pathways, not financed projects or scheduled reactor deliveries.

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