The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank have committed US$ 40 billion to narrow the electricity access gap in Africa by half by 2030.
- The AfDB will commit $18.2bn while the World Bank will commit US$22bn towards Mission 300, a continental plan to connect 300 million people to electricity within the next five years.
- 600 million people on the continent currently do not have access to electricity, accounting for more than 80% of the global electricity access gap.
- The financing will go towards reforms in the energy system to improve this access across the continent, with complementary efforts in green energy sources.
“The idea of putting so much of our money is to enable and make sure that policy reforms get enacted by governments, we are going to give governments money to enable them create headroom to make sure that the policy reforms happen,” World Bank Group President Ajay Banga said during Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on Monday.
“It is the same idea of working with International Monetary Fund to enable the resilience and sustainability trust dollars be available to these countries to create the fiscal headroom,” Banga added.
The summit is expected to yield two significant outcomes: the Dar es Salaam Energy Declaration, outlining commitments and practical actions from African governments to reform the energy sector, and the first set of National Energy Compacts, which will serve as blueprints with country-specific targets and timelines for reforms.
In the first phase, 12 countries will present their energy compacts: Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia. Other African countries are expected to develop their compacts in subsequent phases.
“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,” African Development Bank President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina told the audience, which included several African presidents, energy ministers, international development partners and private sector titans, civil society organizations, and foundations.
