The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is emerging as a key player within the global hydrogen market despite holding just an 11% share of current global active capacity.

According to a new GlobalData report, the MEA region has a substantial number of large-scale low-carbon hydrogen projects in the pipeline that will boost its positioning within the global hydrogen market.

The report notes that African countries such as South Africa, Egypt, Mauritania and Morocco aim to capitalise on their vast renewable resources to competitively produce green hydrogen both for domestic use as well as to serve markets experiencing a surge in demand, such as Europe.

In the Middle East, the approach to low-carbon hydrogen is more blended, with companies investing in both blue and green hydrogen.

Source: GlobalData Analysis, Global Hydrogen Service

The report notes that in African countries, transportation is the key focus demand sector, accounting for up to 6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of capacity across 65 production facilities by 2030.

Other projects, particularly those situated strategically in marine port locations, are also gearing up to produce low-carbon fuels for the maritime sector such as South Africa’s Boegoebaai green hydrogen cluster.

In the Middle Eastern context, projects are focusing on ammonia as an end-use sector for low-carbon hydrogen, with this demand sector potentially accounting for up to 49% of active and upcoming hydrogen capacity.

Ammonia is a valuable end-product for fertilisers, plastics and cleaning products as well as a transport and storage medium for hydrogen.

The report adds: “Although the MEA region’s ammonia demand is forecast to remain relatively stable up to 2030, this focus within upcoming hydrogen production capacity indicates the region’s intention to capitalise on increasing demand for low-carbon ammonia in other markets such as Europe and Asia.”

The GlobalData report includes other key observations such as the need to strengthen national strategies, roadmaps and incentives to pave the way for hydrogen technology investments and deployment within the different sectors in which it can be used.

“Numerous countries across the Middle East and Africa are yet to launch these initiatives and so the region’s signals to industry need to be stronger still,” the report says.

There is a heavy emphasis on partnerships within MEA’s regional hydrogen market, with this form of deal accounting for over 70% of total deal activity between January 2022 and February 2024.

According to the report, this trend indicates how companies operating in the MEA region are bidding to capture a greater share of the global hydrogen market through various offtake agreements.

It adds: “The partnerships trend also extends to international strategic alliances, with European institutions and member states being particularly  active in securing agreements with emerging hydrogen-producing countries in Africa.” 

There are around 70 planned green hydrogen projects planned across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, according to MEED data.

The projects are concentrated mainly in Egypt, Oman, the UAE, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.