2025 Annual Meetings: Ten years of investments have connected over 25 million people to electricity

“Africa is just tired of being in the dark ... We need to take Africa out of the darkness, period.”

This was the urgent call from Akinwumi Adesina in September 2016 in New York, one year after his election as President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB Group) as he highlighted the pressing need for electrification across the continent

Meeting Africa’s energy needs is both a moral and economic imperative. Currently, around 600 million Africans lack electricity, while nearly a billion do not have access to clean cooking facilities.

Between 2016 and 2024, AfDB Group committed to making $12.74 billion (8.83 billion units of account) of investments to connect more than 25 million Africans to electricity, reducing dependence on oil lamps or straw fires.

These energy investments exemplify the vision of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the AfDB, which will be held under the banner, “Making Africa’s Capital Work Better for Africa’s Development”, underscoring the strategic mobilisations of the continent’s rich resources.

Energy is both a major asset and a catalyst for breaking the cycle of poverty.

With vast solar resources, hydroelectric potential, wind corridors, and geothermal reserves, Africa possesses underutilized energy capital capable of transforming economies and reducing reliance on external financing.

By unlocking this potential, the continent can reduce its dependence on external financing and implement well-designed and strategic public policy reforms.

Consequently, the Bank Group’s “Light up and Power Africa” initiative is a corner stone of its  High 5 priorities, with an investment strategy focusing on  renewable energy investment.

The Bank’s New Deal for Energy in Africa, which aims to achieve universal access to electricity on the continent by 2030, is driven by innovative financing and partnerships with the public and private sectors to implement ambitious energy projects, playing a key role in Africa’s energy transition and building a more sustainable and inclusive growth model.

As Mr Adesina has said: “I cannot accept that 600 million Africans still do not have access to electricity. We want to guarantee universal access to electricity for the people of Africa. Africa has many natural sources of energy: solar, hydraulic and wind.”

Over the past decade, the Bank has financed the installation of 39,821 km of electricity distribution lines, exceeding initial targets. The AfDB has also helped to boost Africa’s generating capacity, particularly from renewable sources, and financed the extension of the transmission grid. In 2024 alone, Bank financing enabled the production of 1019 MW of electricity and the construction of 2,326 kilometres of transmission grid across the continent, connecting over 448,000 people to electricity supply.

The Bank Group has developed a variety of initiatives and partnerships as part of its New Deal for Energy in Africa, including the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), which finances and supports the preparation of renewable energy projects. The Desert to Power initiative, led by the Bank, aims to exploit the immense solar potential of the Sahel region in order to produce 10 gigawatts of photovoltaic energy by 2030, connecting 250 million people to electricity in 11 countries, from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east.

‘The future of Africa is in renewable energy’ (Akinwumi Adesina)

As the Bank’s President, Akinwumi Adesina, has emphasised, renewable energy is not just one resource among others – it is “the future of Africa”. The Bank is actively investing to exploit the huge potential of renewables for lighting up the continent.

At Benban, in the heart of the Aswan Desert in Egypt, the Bank has financed the construction of one of the world’s largest solar power plants – a huge 1.5 GW solar park that transforms long hours of sunshine into clean energy. From being a barren expanse of sand, Benban has become home to millions of solar panels that supply electricity to thousands of homes, meeting 20% to Egypt’s renewable energy targets. Led by pioneering national engineers, this remarkable project transforms the desert’s solar radiation into sustainable energy, making Egypt one of the continent’s leaders in renewables.

A few years earlier, completion of the Noor Ouarzazate solar complex in Morocco gave the world its largest-ever solar power project. Spread across a total of four power stations, Noor Ouarzazate’s annual production of 1886 GWh provides electricity to more than two million people (nearly 6% of the Moroccan population) and prevents release of greenhouse gases equivalent to 0.7 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The AfDB led the mobilisation of financing to carry out this mega-project, which is among the continent’s best success stories.

In Côte d’Ivoire, Zaccaron Rahamatou broke through a glass ceiling when she became the first female engineer at the private generating company, the Compagnie Ivoirienne de Production d’Electricité (CIPREL), whose electricity expansion project, backed with 50 million euros from the AfDB, has created new opportunities.

From east to west, from north to south, the Bank has increased the number of Africa’s electricity production, transmission, distribution and technical support projects, expanding access to electricity for the people of Africa.

Mission 300: An unprecedented collaboration

In January 2025, the World Bank and AfDB launched Mission 300 at the Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, aiming to connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030. The AfDB committed to 50 million connections, while the World Bank pledged 250 million. Twelve African nations, including Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania, have already committed to bold energy sector reforms, with more expected to follow after the adoption of the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Energy at the African Union Summit.

Since 2015, the African Development Bank has connected more than 25 million people to electricity among the 515 million whose lives it has impacted in Africa, including 231 million women who suffer most from the energy deficit. The Bank has committed to providing USD 200 million each year to enable more African families to have access to clean cooking facilities by 2030. Initiatives supported by SEFA in 2024 prevented loss of life, mainly among women and children, who are disproportionately affected by the harmful effects of burning biomass, firewood and charcoal. It is estimated that 600,000 people lose their lives on the continent each year due to a lack of clean cooking facilities.

In addition to Desert to Power and SEFA, the Bank is leading or participating in several other initiatives in order to boost its investments in the energy sector and strengthen climate resilience. These initiatives include:

• Africa Energy Marketplace, which is a platform supporting action-oriented policy dialogue between governments, the private sector and development partners to enable sector reform and acceleration of projects.
• Facility for Energy Inclusion, which is an investment platform to improve access to energy in Africa through renewable energy projects and small-scale mini-grids.
• African Green Banks Initiative, a unique pan-African platform that is creating an ecosystem of green banks across Africa.
• Climate Investment Funds, which are among the world’s largest climate finance mechanisms, harnessing various instruments with the goal of universal access.

The Road Ahead

As the AfDB convenes its 2025 Annual Meetings in Abidjan (May 26-30), the urgency of mobilizing Africa’s financial, natural, and human resources remains at the forefront. Mission 300, Desert to Power, and SEFA exemplify how strategic partnerships can unlock Africa’s energy capital while empowering countries to implement national energy strategies.

Investments in energy are key to breaking Africa’s cycle of poverty. With abundant, clean, and affordable energy powering industries, agriculture, and services, the continent can spark a virtuous cycle of economic opportunity. By harnessing its energy capital intelligently, Africa is not just switching on the lights—it is laying the foundation for sustainable, self-driven development.

Cover photo:  The President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, visiting the Noor Ouarzazate solar complex in Morocco on 22 July 2016