Seventeen African heads of state and ministers publicly committed to their nation’s Mission 300 Energy Compacts on Friday, key pillars of an ambitious continental initiative aimed at connecting 300 million Africans to reliable electricity by 2030.
The commitments, endorsed at the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum, represent a bold, united front by Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
These National Energy Compacts combine policy, infrastructure development, and financing plans that governments have tailored to address their unique energy sector constraints.
Far from mere promises, these compacts are practical blueprints for reforming utilities, attracting private investment, and enhancing power generation, transmission, distribution, and cross-border trade.
Botswana’s President Duma Boko stressed the human and economic significance.
“This National Compact is our shared pledge to ensure accessible, reliable and affordable energy as a basic human need, to transform our economy and create jobs, and to electrify our journey to an inclusive high-income country,” said Boko.
In Cameroon, President Paul Biya reaffirmed his country’s commitment to “a determined transition towards renewable energies, promoting inclusive universal access and sustainable development based on partnerships and ambitious reforms to build a low-carbon future.”
Comoros President Azali Assoumani characterised his nation’s Energy Compact as a “call for collective action to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030, in order to ensure the country’s emergence in dignity, equity, and shared progress”.
Highlighting their vast renewable potential, the Republic of Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso detailed a plan that leverages hydroelectric power and natural gas resources, with ambitions to achieve not only universal access but also supply special economic zones and export surplus energy.
“Harnessing this renewable and sustainable energy will cover more than one-third of Africa’s electricity needs,” he stated.
Ethiopia’s President Taye Atske Selassie underscored regional interconnections and Africa-wide cooperation, describing his country’s Energy Compact as “unwavering dedication to ensuring universal, affordable, and sustainable energy access for all… to foster inclusive growth domestically and propel Africa’s collective momentum toward ending energy poverty”.
Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama framed universal energy access as “key to empowering businesses, reducing poverty, and creating equal opportunities”, achieved through government-private sector partnerships.
Kenya’s President William Ruto highlighted the role of energy in his government’s economic agenda, reaffirming the country’s goal of achieving universal electricity and clean cooking by 2030, anchored in a clean energy transition.
Lesotho’s Prime Minister Sam Matekane evoked his country’s natural wealth as a source of pride, inviting investment to realise universal renewable energy access in the “kingdom in the sky”.
These voices reflect a growing continental consensus: electricity is foundational to jobs, opportunity, and economic growth.
The World Bank Group President Ajay Banga explained that Mission 300 is more than a target—it is forging enduring reforms that slash costs, strengthen utilities, and draw in private investment”.
The African Development Bank Group president, Dr Sidi Ould Tah, added, “Give a young entrepreneur power, and you’ve given them a paycheck.”
The Mission 300 partnership, led by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, with support from partners such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Energy Alliance, is the largest development collaboration of its kind. Since its launch, 30 million Africans have gained access to electricity, with over 100 million more expected to follow.
National Energy Compacts, the initiative’s cornerstone, embody tailored, actionable plans supported by broad consultation with civil society and private sector stakeholders to ensure effective, inclusive, and sustainable energy transitions across Africa.
This unified continental effort underscores an unprecedented commitment to end energy poverty and build Africa’s sustainable growth and prosperity.
