Patrick Stein-Kaempfe is a seasoned private equity professional with close to 20 years of investment experience with leading investment houses H.I.G. Capital, Penta Investments, and Cranemere across the US, Europe, and Africa. Patrick’s experience in the energy sector includes venture/growth, buyout, and infrastructure transactions.

Patrick co-founded Actus Education Africa, an Africa-focused K-12 education holding platform focused on the growing middle class. Patrick advises Enertrag SE (Germany) and Hyphen Hydrogen Energy (Namibia) on corporate and project financing.

Topic Description: Hyphen Hydrogen Energy is Namibia’s first Gigawatt-scale green hydrogen-to-ammonia project, with initially produced volumes earmarked for export to the industrialized world. Hyphen’s success would mark the first step in Namibia’s green industrialization and as such, serves as a lighthouse project for Africa’s energy trade partnerships with Germany. The intricacies are many, as politics, energy policy, financing cost, and offtake support interlink to create new markets. 

Quote: Green hydrogen is a the single most important investment opportunity for Africa, with the potential to transform the continent's energy, economy, and environment, mostly financed by the industrialized world, with Germany as a front runner.