Mission 300 Energy Summit highlights mobilizing power of global partnerships

Two panel sessions at the recently concluded Africa Energy Summit in Tanzania underscored the pivotal role bilateral and multilateral partnerships will play in accelerating the attainment of universal access to electricity in Africa.

The panel sessions, with the topic, “Role of International Partners in the Acceleration of Energy Transformation”, took place on the opening day of the ‘Mission 300’ Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Summit was organised by the African Development Bank Group, World Bank Group, African Union and the government of Tanzania to advance the goal of connecting 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.

Moderated by Andrew Herscowitz, Chief Executive Officer of the M300 Accelerator, a unit of RF Catalytic Capital; and Ms. Tariye Gbadegesin, Chief Executive Officer of Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the sessions featured representatives of multilateral development banks and development finance institutions, as well as senior government officials from key donor European countries and the European Commission. Key themes explored included co-financing opportunities, private sector mobilization, blended finance, and technical assistance.

Representing the multilateral institutions were Jin Liqun, President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, President of the Islamic Development Bank; and Mahmoud Khene, Regional Director and Special Representative of the President of the OPEC Fund.

The European partners were represented by Senator Claudio Barbaro, Italy’s Vice Minister for the Environment and Energy Security; Ms Bjørg Sandkjær, Deputy Minister of International Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway; Ms Rachel Kyte, UK Special Representative for Climate; Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); and Hans Stausboll, acting Director General for International Partnerships at the European Commission.

Extensive Africa footprints

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is currently working on on-grid solutions in Ivory Coast and Tanzania, and off grid projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The AIIB has operations in Cote d'Ivoire and Rwanda and is working to launch projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, and Benin. Overall, the Islamic Development Bank has an extensive portfolio of 622 energy projects across Africa.

The Climate Investment Funds (CIF), one of the world’s largest climate and clean energy funds – with $12 billion in existing capital – is active in Ghana, Mali, Tanzania Liberia. Lesotho, and Kenya, supporting projects in clean energy development, transmission, distribution and storage.

Norway, the UK, Germany, Italy and the European Union all highlighted ongoing Africa-focused energy projects and partnerships. “We don’t feel like donors, we are partnering with the continent,” said Germany’s Flasbarth.

In 2024, Norway along with Tanzania, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the African Development Bank co-hosted a clean cooking summit in Paris that brought to global attention one of the consequences of the lack of energy access.

Under the Mattei Plan for Africa, Italy has established a working group with the World Bank to explore joint project opportunities the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.

It is also exploring interventions focused on electrification, digitization and strengthening of energy utilities in Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Congo.

The “At-Least $5 billion” Panel

Moderator Andrew Herscowitz, CEO M300 Accelerator, Rockefeller Catalytic Capital. dubbed the panel ‘the At-Least $5 billion’ panel, referencing the combined financial commitments made by panelists.

Jin Liqun, President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) pledged between $1-1.5 billion, and Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, President of the Islamic Development Bank committed $2.65 billion in direct financing for African energy projects and a further $2 billion in business and trade insurance, while Mahmoud Khene, Regional Director and Special Representative of the President of the OPEC Fund announced an initial pledge of $1 billion.

Remy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), hinted that France would also make a substantial commitment during the summit. “President Macron really supports Mission 300… We really want to be a key partner with significant investment,” he said.

The United Kingdom government, represented by Rachel Kyte, Special Representative for Climate, disclosed a new commitment of 8.5 million sterling into the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) while Bjørg Sandkjær, Deputy Minister of International Development of Norway pledged new support of Kroner 300 million to the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), a World Bank initiative which provides technical assistance and training for African governments.

Bolstering innovation

Panelists noted that one of the ways in which Mission 300 stands out is in its determination to mobilize philanthropic capital to help de-risk energy projects and thus attract private sector investment.

The conversations touched extensively on the need to deploy innovative mechanisms to attract and de-risk additional financing: from the CIF’s pioneering new Capital Markets mechanism, listed on the London Stock Exchange, to its recently oversubscribed bond issuance, the M300 Accelerator’s modestly-sized “enabler” grants, and the joint resolve of the World Bank and the African Development Bank to double down on mobilizing financing through the International Development Association (IDA) and the African Development Fund (ADF), their respective concessional windows.

Capacity-building and technical assistance were not left out; RF Catalytic Capital disclosed plans to launch an “M300 fellowship program” that will recruit and place talent within African government ministries to support with energy reform efforts and fund mobilization.

Cover photo:  Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit Panel Session on “Role of International Partners in the Acceleration of Energy Transformation” (co-financing opportunities), moderated by Andrew Herscowitz, CEO, M300 Accelerator, Dar es Salaam, January 27, 2025