ByCharles Kennedy– Jan 29, 2025, 10:30 AM CST
International lenders and partners this week committed another $8 billion in financing to a $48-billion project by the World Bank and African Development Bank to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
African Development Bank Group and the World Bank Group plan to allocate $48 billion in financing for Mission 300, which may evolve to fit implementation needs, African Development Bank said at the end of a summit on the so-called Mission 300, an initiative to connect 300 million people to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.
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In Africa, nearly 600 million people live without electricity, which represents 83% of the global energy deficit, the World Bank says.
Together with multi-national partners and lenders, the World Bank and the African Development Bank seek to raise money to expand access to electricity. Many African nations lack the funds to do this themselves.
This week’s summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, included pledges from Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), the French development agency, for $1 billion.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) committed $1 billion to $1.5 billion to support Mission 300. Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group pledged $2.65 billion in support of Mission 300 and energy access in Africa from 2025-2030.
The OPEC Fund for International Development also announced an initial commitment of $1 billion in support of Mission 300, with additional financing to follow.
“Access to electricity is a fundamental human right. Without it, countries and people cannot thrive,” said Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group.
“To succeed, we must embrace a simple truth: no one can do it alone. Governments, businesses, philanthropies, and development banks each have a role—and only through collaboration can we achieve our goal,” Banga added.
President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, commented, “We can do megawatts of talk all we want, but it’s going to be the megawatts of power that we deliver that make this an action-driven summit.”
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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