600 million Africans live without access to electricity
Last week, African heads of state signed off on an ambitious commitment to bring affordable electricity to hundreds of millions of the continent’s inhabitants before the end of the decade.
The Dar Es Salaam Declaration, also called ‘Mission 300,’ was the culmination of a two-day summit in Tanzania’s largest city, where two dozen heads of state, including Ethiopian President Taye Atskeselassie, and more than 1,000 delegates pledged to pull 300 million Africans out of the dark by 2030.
Although access to electricity on the continent has grown from 39 percent in 2015 to 52 percent in 2024, Africa still accounts for 83 percent of all people living without access to electricity. An estimated 600 million across the continent are still living in the dark. Sixty million of them reside in Ethiopia.
Heads of state and development partners have urged for quick and decisive action to expand access to electricity, but analysts worry that the ambitious Mission 300 is unrealistic in the face of funding shortfalls.
However, African governments seem unfazed, with financiers like the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank Group (WBG) rolling out plans to back the Dar Es Salaam Declaration.
“This is the right commitment we need to make to halve the 600 million deficit by 2030. But it takes work with…the banks, work with African governments, the private sector and other partners,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, who attended the Africa Energy Summit last week.
Akinwumi Adesina (PhD), AfDB president, stressed that achieving universal energy access is vital to Africa’s economic transformation.
“Energy is like blood. If you have blood in your body, you live. No economy can grow in the dark. Show me an economy that industrialized in the dark,” he said during an address at the summit.
AfDB and WBG together have pledged to allocate USD 48 billion in financing, which, in tandem with private sector funding, is set to go towards technical assistance for energy sector reform and access across Africa over the coming five years.
“We understand that this allocation will evolve to fit implementation needs,” reads the Declaration.
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has pledged one billion dollars, while the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the OPEC Fund for International Development together have together committed up to USD five billion to back the ambitious initiative.
“This Declaration represents a turning point for Africa’s energy future,” said Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan. “We are committed to delivering affordable, reliable electricity to transform lives and economies across the continent.”
Leaders emphasized investments in renewable energy, including solar and hydroelectric power, and promised to improve infrastructure and implement policies to attract private sector involvement. Tanzania, a key player in the East African Power Pool, plans to increase electricity production by 2,463 megawatts by 2030, requiring USD 13 billion in funding.
The Declaration outlines strategies to lower electricity costs, reduce dependence on firewood, and boost clean energy production, offering hope for a brighter and more sustainable future for millions across the continent.
President Taye Atskeselassie highlighted the need to build on past progress.
“Despite achieving an overall access rate of 54 percent [in Ethiopia], a staggering 60 million citizens still lack access to electricity,” he said.
The President alluded to the Ethiopian government’s aggressive target to achieve universal electricity access by 2028, requiring the electrification of 3.4 million households in each of the coming four years.
The ambitions align with a policy U-turn, as the government bans the import of combustion engine vehicles in favor of a shift to EVs.
Development partners have agreed to invest in power generation, transmission and distribution, including off-grid and on-grid. But for global energy players, finance is not the only problem.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné highlighted infrastructure constraints.
“When you build a renewable energy plant, you must then transport that electricity, and that is where the challenge lies,” he said.
AMEA Power Chairman Hussain Al Nowais, whose company operates in 20 African countries, called for developers to invest in distribution networks while emphasizing the importance of currency convertibility and streamlined administrative processes.
“It is time for developers to start investing in the distribution network. Production is easy, but how do you evacuate that production? How can it be done with a weak network?” asked Al Nowais.
He cited Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa as examples of successful energy sector reforms.
“No one can do it alone,” WBG head Banga said. “Governments cannot do it alone. Businesses cannot do it alone. Philanthropies cannot do it alone. Development banks cannot do it alone. But together, we can.”
The Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced a new one billion dollar fund for companies working on decentralized renewable energy and off-grid solar solutions in Africa. Industry leaders also stressed the need for sovereign guarantees and local currency financing.
Via video link, President Emmanuel Macron of France committed one billion euros.
“Universal access to electricity is critical to get justice for Africa. This is a shared fight, and we will win it with all the heads of states and governments of Africa who are here and all our partners from the civil society and also financial partners that are joining us,” he said.
France also pledged 10 million euros, as a new donor, to the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), a multi-donor facility unlocking private sector investments in renewable energy. Denmark, the UK and Spain increased their existing contributions to SEFA by a total of 26.5 million euros.
African nations also took a decisive step forward on clean cooking. Their energy compacts contain commitments to address a crisis that kills approximately 600,000 women and children annually across the continent and carries health and economic costs of nearly USD 800 billion annually.
Participants noted that an energy transition would be difficult to achieve without a developed gas sector.
“If you need reliable electricity 24/7, without intermittency, you have to combine it with gas… You need to advocate for this in every international forum. Gas will enable progress, drive Africa’s development, and support both economic and social growth,” said TotalEnergies CEO Pouyanné to African heads of state and government leaders. “Liquefied Petroleum Gas is available in Africa for clean cooking. It is an affordable and clean energy source.”
Adesina warned that Mission 300 should not be “Mickey Mouse business.”
“This is mission critical… Our mission here is to say we need everybody… It’s not about us, it’s about those who are not here, and we must listen and hear and make sure this is an action-driven summit… We can’t do Mickey Mouse business… We can’t have a situation where Africa does not have enough electricity,” he said. “Our collective effort is to support you, heads of state and government, in developing and implementing clear, country-led national energy compacts to deliver on your visions for electricity in your respective countries.”
Tanzania’s President Hassan emphasized that the coming 18 months will be crucial in determining whether Mission 300 can deliver where previous efforts have fallen short.
The Declaration is set to be presented for continent-wide adoption during the African Union Summit set to take place in Addis Ababa in the coming weeks.
