$48 Billion Pledged to Electrify Africa

Thirty African leaders signed a landmark declaration committing to concrete reforms to expand access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity across the continent during the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

This Dar es Salaam Energy Declaration will be presented to the African Union Summit in February for adoption.

Mission 300 aims to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030, boosting economic growth, employment, and quality of life.

Currently, approximately 600 million people in Africa lack access to electricity, according to the World Bank.

Financial Commitments

• The African Development Bank and the World Bank plan to allocate $48 billion in financing for Mission 300 through 2030.
• Other key contributors include:
  • Agence Française de Développement (€1 billion)
  • Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ($1 billion – $1.5 billion)
  • Islamic Development Bank Group ($2.65 billion)
  • OPEC Fund ($1 billion)

National Energy Compacts

Twelve African countries—Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia—presented detailed national energy compacts. These plans outline specific targets for:

• Scaling up electricity access: Reaching a higher percentage of the population with access to electricity.
• Increasing renewable energy use: expanding the share of renewable energy sources in the electricity mix.
• Attracting private capital: creating an enabling environment for private sector investment in the energy sector.

Key Reforms

• Expanding renewables: Increasing the share of renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydro in electricity generation.
• Improving utility performance: Enhancing the efficiency and reliability of electricity distribution companies.
• Transparency and predictability: Improving transparency in licensing processes, power purchase agreements, and establishing predictable tariff regimes that reflect production costs.

Leadership Statements

• Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, emphasized the need for decisive action to implement the national energy compacts and highlighted the Bank’s commitment to supporting these efforts.

“Critical reforms will be needed to expand the share of renewables, improve utility performance, ensure transparency in licensing and power purchase agreements, and establish predictable tariff regimes that reflect production costs.”

• Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, stated that access to electricity is a fundamental human right and a prerequisite for economic transformation in Africa. He stressed the importance of collaboration between governments, businesses, philanthropies, and development banks to achieve Mission 300.

“Our mission to provide electricity to half of the 600 million people in Africa without access is a critical first step. To succeed, we must embrace a simple truth: no one can do it alone. Governments, businesses, philanthropies, and development banks each have a role—and only through collaboration can we achieve our goal,” he stated.

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