Africa’s energies and chemical industry faces a significant decarbonisation challenge. Stricter ESG demands, shifting investor expectations, rising energy costs and unstable electricity supply are piling pressure on operators to cut emissions while keeping operations safe and profitable.
Prevashen Naicker, segment director for energy and chemicals, SSA at Schneider Electric says: “Decarbonisation should not be viewed as a compliance exercise and also a structured business transformation journey that improves operational performance while reducing carbon intensity.”
Sustainability and profitability can coexist
Many energies and chemical operators continue to associate decarbonisation with costly greenfield projects or complete plant overhauls. In reality, significant gains can be achieved by improving the efficiency of existing assets.
“The first step is certainly not a forklift exercise,” says Naicker. “Organisations should understand where energy is being used, where losses occur, and how digital technologies can optimise what already exists. Monitoring solutions like our EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert enable operators to identify abnormal consumption, energy losses and system inefficiencies. We have found it can deliver energy reductions of between 5% and 15% without making changes to production processes. For organisations managing ageing brownfield facilities, these efficiency improvements represent some of the quickest and lowest-risk opportunities to reduce both operating costs and carbon emissions.”
Digitalisation creates the foundation for decarbonisation
While improving energy efficiency is an important first step, Naicker believes the real transformation comes from digitalising industrial operations. Modern automation platforms, advanced process control and real-time operational visibility enable organisations to optimise production continuously, rather than relying on periodic manual interventions.
“Digitalisation allows operators to make better decisions faster,” he says. “Whether it’s reducing flare gas, improving process yields, lowering energy intensity or implementing condition-based maintenance, better data enables better outcomes.”
Schneider Electric supports this transition through integrated automation and digital platforms that modernise legacy distributed control systems, improve asset performance and reduce unplanned downtime. Condition-based maintenance contributes to decarbonisation by identifying equipment issues before they become failures, reducing unnecessary maintenance activity while avoiding the emissions and production losses associated with unexpected shutdowns.
Building a roadmap that delivers measurable value
Today’s most successful decarbonisation programmes begin with realistic business priorities rather than ambitious technology wish lists. “Every business exists to create value,” explains Naicker. “The roadmap must begin with projects that deliver measurable operational improvements while supporting longer-term sustainability objectives. We encourage organisations to develop phased transformation roadmaps that start with low-risk efficiency initiatives before progressing towards larger decarbonisation programmes. Success should be measured using clear operational indicators such as energy intensity, carbon emissions per tonne of production, operating cost savings and overall asset availability.”
A trusted partner for industrial transformation
Looking ahead, Naicker expects Africa’s industrial sector to become increasingly connected, intelligent and powered by hybrid energy systems that combine grid electricity, renewable energy, battery storage, and eventually, green hydrogen. AI, advanced analytics and integrated automation will play an increasingly important role in helping operators optimise complex industrial environments.
Schneider Electric sees its role as helping customers bring these technologies together through an open, interoperable platform that integrates power management, industrial automation and digital services into a single operational ecosystem.
“Our goal is to help organisations decarbonise at scale without compromising safety, reliability or profitability,” concludes Naicker. “By taking a phased, digitally enabled approach, businesses can reduce emissions while becoming more competitive, resilient and prepared for the future.”
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