Leaders pledge reforms, private sector partnerships, and renewable energy drive at global forum
Seventeen African governments have pledged sweeping reforms and actionable plans to expand electricity access under Mission 300, a joint initiative of the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank Group to connect 300 million Africans to power by 2030.
The commitments were unveiled at the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum, where the leaders endorsed National Energy Compacts, practical blueprints designed to guide public investment, trigger reforms, and attract private capital into Africa’s energy sector.
“Electricity is the bedrock of jobs, opportunity, and economic growth,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. “That’s why Mission 300 is more than a target, it is forging enduring reforms that slash costs, strengthen utilities, and draw in private investment.”
African Development Bank Group President, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, emphasized the ripple effects of energy access: “Reliable, affordable power is the fastest multiplier for small and medium enterprises, agro-processing, digital work, and industrial value-addition. Give a young entrepreneur power, and you’ve given them a paycheck.”
Since its launch, Mission 300 has already connected 30 million people to electricity, with more than 100 million additional connections in the pipeline.
Among the countries endorsing the Energy Compacts are Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Principe, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
African leaders described the move as both an economic necessity and a moral imperative.
President Duma Boko of Botswana said: “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.”
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya framed his country’s pledge as a leap toward sustainability: “We are committed, through our Energy Compact, 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.”
From Kenya, President William Ruto tied energy reforms to his government’s broader agenda: “Energy is a key enabler under the infrastructure component of Kenya’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda. The Energy Compact anchors our commitment to achieve universal access to electricity and clean cooking and transition our grid to full reliance on clean energy by 2030.”
Other leaders, including Ethiopia’s President Taye Atske Selassie and Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, echoed similar commitments to universal, affordable, and sustainable energy access.
The Energy Compacts integrate three tracks—infrastructure, financing, and policy—tailored to each country’s context. They build on earlier commitments by 12 African nations, including Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia, which collectively pledged over 400 reforms earlier this year.
The initiative is supported by a broad coalition of partners, including the Rockefeller Foundation, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), and the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).
For many of the leaders, the message was clear: powering Africa is no longer a dream but an urgent mission.
As Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio put it: “Our M300 Compact is the most ambitious and comprehensive energy infrastructure initiative ever developed for Sierra Leone. Powered by evidence-based solutions and data, this single plan for Sierra Leone’s energy transformation holds the greatest promise for unlocking sustainable and inclusive development for our people.”