A transformative partnership between the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank (AfDB) aims to provide electricity access to at least 300 million Africans by 2030, significantly reducing the number of people living without power on the continent.
According to a joint press statement released by the partners, approximately 600 million Africans currently lack access to electricity. The ambitious initiative seeks to halve this figure by leveraging both distributed renewable energy plants and grid-connected facilities.
Under the plan, the World Bank will lead efforts to connect 250 million people to electricity, requiring an estimated USD 30 billion (EUR 28.14bn) of public sector investment. Additionally, the initiative is projected to unlock USD 9 billion worth of private sector investment opportunities in distributed renewable energy projects alone.
In parallel, the AfDB will focus on supporting an additional 50 million people in gaining access to electricity.
Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, emphasized the critical role of electricity access in driving development, stating, “Electricity access is the bedrock of all development. We will need policy action from governments, financing from multilateral development banks, and private sector investment to see this through.”
