Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ethiopia have become the first three biggest beneficiaries of a major World Bank-backed electrification drive across Africa, backed electrification drive across Africa, an analysis of the Mission 300 Progress Report obtained by our correspondent has shown.
The report said more than 50 million Africans gained access to electricity between July 2023 and April 2026 under the World Bank-backed Mission 300 initiative.
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The report said sustained investment, faster project delivery and expanded renewable energy solutions will be essential to achieve universal electricity access by 2030.
The report, which tracks electricity connections delivered through World Bank Group-financed operations between July 1, 2023, and April 30, 2026, revealed that 40 African countries have benefited from 85 electricity access projects, bringing power to homes, businesses, schools, and health facilities across the continent.
However, the report also exposed persistent gaps in Africa’s electrification efforts, showing that eight countries are yet to record a single new electricity connection under the programme despite ongoing or approved projects.
World Bank Group and other development partners, seek to provide electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030, tackling one of the continent’s most pressing development challenges.
“In Tanzania, for example, 7.5 million people have gained access to power under Mission 300, a five-fold increase in the average annual pace of electrification prior to the initiative, driven by increased financing and growing policy momentum” said the report.
“In Ethiopia, 4.6 million people have been connected, supported by reforms that made grid connections more affordable. 50 million people connected is a milestone, but the bigger story is the pace and the partnership behind it.
“Mission 300 is helping countries move faster, connect more people, and build a platform that will last well beyond this effort, which others can use, build on, and scale for years to come. At the end of the day, electricity is not just about power. It is about what it enables: jobs, business, health care, education, and opportunity,” the President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, was quoted as saying.
MG/as/APA