The African Institute for Sustainable Energy and Systems Analysis (AISESA) is recruiting Research Fellows across all 5 of its interconnected research clusters

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Closing Date: 12 July 2026

The African Institute for Sustainable Energy and Systems Analysis (AISESA) is recruiting Research Fellows across all 5 of its interconnected research clusters

AISESA is recruiting Research Fellows across all five of its interconnected research clusters: Clean Energy Pathways, Effective Implementation, Policy & Governance, Energy Finance & Technology, and Skills & Institutional Capacity.

This is a chance to join a pan-African network shaping the knowledge, tools, and evidence at the heart of Africa’s climate and energy transformations, and to do research that is grounded in the continent’s own priorities.

About AISESA

The African Institute for Sustainable Energy and Systems Analysis (AISESA) is a pan-African platform that convenes researchers, policymakers, civil society, private sector actors, and financiers to co-create context-specific knowledge, tools, and capacity to advance Africa’s energy, climate, and development agendas.

AISESA is grounded in the conviction that Africa’s energy transitions must be designed, led, and owned by African institutions, and aligned with the continent’s development priorities. The Institute works to bridge persistent gaps between research, policy, finance, and implementation by generating actionable knowledge, strengthening institutional capacity, and supporting decision-making processes across national and regional contexts.

AISESA operates through five interconnected clusters covering clean energy pathways, implementation, policy and governance, finance and technology, and institutional capacity. These clusters work both independently and collaboratively, contributing to integrated analysis and real-world engagement through thematic areas such as powering livelihoods, inclusive industrialisation, and urban transformation.

AISESA team brings together some of Africa’s most experienced energy researchers, systems thinkers, and policy advisors.
From all over Africa, AISESA is united by one goal: to put African voices at the center of global energy transition conversations.
Each member of its leadership and members plays a unique role in building bridges between evidence, institutions, and action.

Join AISESA Team

AISESA is recruiting Research Fellows to support cluster-level research and engagement across its programme of work.

Energy Systems Modelling Fellow (Cluster 1)

AISESA is seeking an Energy Systems Modelling Fellow to join Cluster 1: Clean Energy Pathways for Development. This role is intended for a candidate with a strong foundation in energy systems engineering and modelling, combined with the ability to critically engage with how analytical tools are used in practice. The Fellow will contribute to understanding and improving how energy modelling and planning approaches reflect African economic realities, development priorities, and decision-making processes.

The role goes beyond the application of existing tools. It requires the ability to question underlying assumptions, adapt modelling approaches to context, and contribute to the development of analytical frameworks that are relevant, usable, and aligned with real-world planning needs.

The successful candidate is also expected to contribute to the longer-term development of AISESA’s approach to energy systems analysis. This includes helping to build a robust evidence base on what appropriate, context-sensitive modelling tools and practices should look like in African contexts, and how these can better inform planning and investment decisions.

Implementation Systems Fellow (Cluster 2)

AISESA is seeking an Implementation Systems Fellow to contribute to the research, analytical, and engagement activities of Cluster 2. The Fellow will help advance AISESA’s understanding of how energy solutions move from plans and pilots to sustained implementation and scale. This includes developing and applying approaches to analyse implementation pathways, generating evidence on enabling and constraining factors, and translating insights into practical tools for decision-makers.

The Fellow will work closely with AISESA’s existing Effective Implementation Research Fellow, contributing complementary expertise and perspectives as part of a collaborative research effort. The two positions are designed to bring together different but complementary capabilities, combining technical, analytical, and contextual perspectives to advance AISESA’s work.

The successful candidate will also closely with other AISESA clusters to strengthen connections between research, policy and implementation.

Energy Governance and Policy Fellow (Cluster 3)

AISESA is seeking an Energy Governance and Policy Fellow to contribute to the research, analytical, and engagement activities of the Policy and Governance Cluster. The Fellow will investigate how evidence, institutions, governance arrangements, and political dynamics shape energy and climate decision-making across African contexts. The position is intended for a researcher who can
engage critically with both technical and policy dimensions of energy systems and who is interested in understanding how decisions are made, implemented, contested, and adapted in practice.

Energy Finance and Technology Fellow (Cluster 4)

AISESA is seeking an Energy Finance and Technology Fellow to contribute to the research, analytical, and engagement activities of Cluster 4.

The Fellow will support AISESA’s efforts to understand and shape the financial and technological dimensions of energy transformations in Africa. This includes analysing investment patterns, financing mechanisms, risk allocation, and technology characteristics and deployment pathways, while identifying opportunities to improve the mobilisation and effectiveness of capital across different contexts.

Skills and Institutional Capacity Fellow (Cluster 5)

AISESA is seeking a Research Fellow to contribute to Cluster 5: Institutions, Skills and Capacity. The Fellowship will combine independent and collaborative research on African knowledge systems, institutional capability and capacity strengthening with a cross-cluster role in generating learning from AISESA’s work. The Fellow will examine how institutions develop, retain and use knowledge in energy and development decision-making. The Fellow will contribute to AISESA’s wider research agenda through high-quality scholarly and policy-relevant outputs, while also supporting the Institute to identify shared learning across its thematic and country-level work.

A further component of the Fellowship will be an exploratory assessment of a possible African Observatory of Capacity for Sustainable Energy and Development. This work will assess the strategic value, user needs, institutional arrangements, partnership options, and resource requirements for such an initiative.