Africa’s nuclear debate got a lot more tangible this week. Ethiopia officially launched its Nuclear Power Program and operationalized the Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission, positioning a “mega” nuclear plant as a core pillar of a USD 30 billion development initiative announced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. At a high-level event in Addis Ababa, ministers and the IAEA framed nuclear as the answer to surging industrial and digital power demand and to hydropower vulnerability, with a mandate that extends from grid baseload to food security and healthcare.