World Bank Initiative Brings Electricity to 50 Million Africans

A worker passes an electricity substation at the Olkaria Geothermal Complex, operated by Kenya Electricity Generating Company Plc in Hells Gate National Park in Naivasha. Photo by Patrick Meinhardt /Photographer: Patrick Meinhardt/

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(Bloomberg) — A World Bank initiative to provide electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030 has reached nearly a fifth of its goal, two years after its formation. 

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Mission 300, created in 2024, has connected more than 50 million people to electricity across 40 nations and is now delivering electricity access at nearly double the pace recorded at its start, the World Bank and African Development Bank said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

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“Mission 300 is helping countries move faster, connect more people, and build a platform that will last well beyond this effort — one others can use, build on, and scale for years to come,” Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, said in the statement. “At the end of the day, electricity is not just about power. It is about what it enables: jobs, business, healthcare, education, and opportunity.” 

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The plan, if successful, would bring power to more than half of the about 565 million Africans who don’t have access to electricity. The continent is home to more than four-fifths of the world’s population without electricity, with electrification rates in countries such as South Sudan, Burundi and Chad among the lowest globally. That limits productivity and hampers economic growth in some of the poorest nations on earth. 

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The program evaluates energy projects and helps mobilize financing for those that qualify, with the goal of raising at least $90 billion from public, private and multilateral sources.

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At least 7.5 million people in Tanzania, 4.6 million people in Ethiopia and a similar amount in Nigeria have benefited from the plan, the multilateral lenders said. 

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A joint initiative of the World Bank and the AfDB, it is also backed by major climate and development organizations, including The Rockefeller Foundation, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, and Sustainable Energy for All, alongside governments, development finance institutions and private-sector partners.

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This initiative “must become the launchpad for faster electrification to enhance food security on account of affordable irrigation; increase capacity to store medicines for better health outcomes, and spur more inclusive economic and social empowerment,” said AfDB President Sidi Ould Tah.

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To date, the AfDB and World Bank have committed nearly $15 billion to the project and attracted about $4.5 billion in co-financing, while additional development partners have pledged more than $7 billion, the lenders said. 

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The program has also seen 30 nations set up National Energy Compacts, country-led plans to strengthen energy systems and expand access to affordable electricity, they said. Additional compacts are expected to be unveiled by Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Djibouti, Gabon, Rwanda and Uganda this week, according to the lenders.

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—With assistance from Antony Sguazzin.

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