African leaders, partners commit $50b to improved power supply, others

Tinubu affirms Nigeria’s commitment
With $50 billion from Mission 300 partners from across the world, African Heads of State and Government have committed to concrete reforms and actions to expand access to reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity to power economic growth, improve quality of life, and drive job creation across the continent.

President Bola Tinubu was among the 30 African leaders, who were at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit (AES).

This was as the African Development Bank (AfDB), in partnership with the World Bank Group, pledged $40 billion to achieve the ‘Mission 300’ initiative.

The two-day summit, hosted by the government of Tanzania, in collaboration with the African Union (AU), AfDB and the World Bank Group, adopted the Dar es Salaam Declaration, which focused on providing access to electricity for 300 million people in Africa by 2030.

Following the reading of the Declaration at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre, leaders from Nigeria, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia signed the document.

Through the Declaration, the leaders from the 12 countries expressed their commitment to ensuring electricity access for their citizens in the next five years. They plan to achieve the goal through National Energy Compacts, which identify specific policy measures to address constraints across their energy sector and set targets based on their unique context.

In the speech read by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, the Nigerian leader lauded AfDB, the World Bank Group and development partners for their collective pledge to bring electricity access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030.

Tinubu called on African leaders to prioritise energy access, emphasising collective action.

“Let us work together to create a brighter future for our citizens, where every African can access reliable and affordable energy, a future where our industries thrive, our economies grow, and our people prosper,” the President said in the speech by the Minister of Power.

President Tinubu also used the occasion to reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to providing reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity to its unelectrified population by 2030.

“This is an ambitious goal, but we can achieve it together. As Nigeria’s President, I am committed to making energy access a top priority,” he said.

Detailing the substantial progress Nigeria has achieved with the support of international development partners, Tinubu acknowledged AfDB’s $1.1 billion, which is expected to provide electricity for five million people by the end of 2026, while its $200 million in the Nigeria Electrification Project will provide electricity for 500,000 people by the end of 2025.

Adesina noted that 45.2 per cent of the financial commitment, totalling $18.2 billion, would come from AfDB.

This, he noted, will be supported by $22 billion (55.8 per cent) in funding from the Washington-

World Bank President, Ajay Banga, also linked the initiative’s success to private sector partnerships. He noted that $30 billion to $40 billion would be directed towards Mission 300 over the next six years.