Africa’s 2030 electrification mission surges, connecting 30 million in first year
The World Bank committed to providing electricity access to 250 million people, with the African Development Bank (AfDB) aiming to reach an additional 50 million.
Africa’s 2030 Electrification Mission, launched in April last year to connect 300 million people within six years, is making significant progress.
According to the latest update by the World Bank, the initiative has successfully connected 30 million people to electricity, marking a significant milestone in its early phase.
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Even more striking is the pace of implementation. The World Bank reports that connections are now being made 1.5 times faster than before.
“In the past 18 months, the connection rate has accelerated, becoming 1.5x quicker compared to previous years,” the lender said.
The initiative, led by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), aims to boost energy access across the continent by expanding electricity provision, improving utility efficiency, and promoting regional energy integration.
By attracting private investment and upgrading infrastructure, the mission also seeks to drive wider economic transformation in Africa.
The World Bank has committed to electrifying 250 million people, while the AfDB targets an additional 50 million, addressing the continent’s persistent energy gap and supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The United Nations reckons that hundreds of millions of Africans still live without electricity, relying on kerosene, candles and firewood, contributing to stalled growth, missed opportunities, and preventable deaths each year.
“The often quoted figure, 600 million Africans without electricity, has become alarmingly familiar. Repeated in reports and conferences, it risks triggering stats fatigue. Yet in homes, hospitals and businesses, the effects remain painfully visible,” the UN noted.
According to the organisation, families burn kerosene lamps, exposing children to toxic fumes.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates indoor air pollution from polluting fuels kills 3.2 million people globally each year, including more than 237,000 children under five.
In Africa, the toll is about 700,000 annually, from pneumonia, heart disease, chronic respiratory illness, stroke and lung cancer.
Adding to the Mission 300 million momentum seeking to avert the aforementioned crisis, 17 more African countries have this month unveiled their national energy compacts, reinforcing their commitment to the mission.
These include Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, and Togo, referred to as ‘Cohort 2’.
The announcements were made on September 24, at the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum held in New York, a key global platform for mobilising investment and political will around climate and development goals.
They join the first group of 12 countries, ‘Cohort 1’, which revealed their compacts in January 2025 at the Mission 300 summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
This initial group includes Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia. With these additions, 29 African countries have finalised their energy compacts.
Compacts are comprehensive documents outlining data-driven targets, policy measures, and resource commitments by African governments, all aimed at achieving the overall objective of Mission 300.
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