World Bank, AfDB Electrify 50 Million Across Africa
Africa’s largest electrification drive has crossed a defining threshold, with the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank announcing that their joint Mission 300 initiative has connected more than 50 million people to electricity across 40 countries, even as Nigeria, home to the world’s biggest power access deficit, accounts for over 4.5 million of those connections.
The two institutions disclosed on June 16, 2026 that the milestone marks a major step toward the initiative’s goal of reaching 300 million people by 2030, with electricity access now being delivered at nearly double the pace recorded at the start of the programme. In Nigeria, the connections came through private sector-led initiatives, which the banks said demonstrate how well-designed public support and partner financing can help create commercially viable markets.
The numbers carry particular weight for Nigeria. The World Bank’s 2025 Tracking SDG7 report, which covers 2023, ranked Nigeria first globally for the number of people without electricity at 86.8 million, ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo at 79.6 million and Ethiopia at 56.4 million. The three countries together account for roughly a third of the entire global access deficit. The same report put national electricity access at 61 percent and clean cooking access at just 26 percent.
The cost of that gap is steep. According to World Bank analysis, annual economic losses from unreliable power in Nigeria are estimated at 5 to 7 percent of GDP, amounting to about US$25 billion. Households nationally report about seven outages per week, each lasting around 12 hours, forcing many to alternate between the grid and costly petrol and diesel generators.
Mission 300 was launched in 2024 as a joint effort by the World Bank and the AfDB, with backing from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, and Sustainable Energy for All. In January 2025, 48 countries endorsed the Dar es Salaam Energy Declaration, establishing continent-wide political commitment and aligning the programme with the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The financing picture has grown substantially. The World Bank and AfDB have committed nearly US$15 billion, attracted about US$4.5 billion in co-financing, and additional development partners have pledged more than US$7 billion for Africa’s energy sector. Progress varies sharply by country. In Tanzania, 7.5 million people have gained access, a five-fold increase in the average annual pace of electrification, while Ethiopia has connected 4.6 million people, supported by reforms that made grid connections more affordable.
Country-led reform roadmaps sit at the centre of the strategy. So far, 30 countries have launched National Energy Compacts to expand generation, scale renewables, promote regional integration and increase private participation. Nigeria’s compact ties directly into its climate commitments. In September 2025, the country submitted revised nationally determined contributions to the United Nations, pledging 100 percent electricity access by 2030, a 50 percent renewable share in generation, and a 9 percent annual rise in new connections.
Whether that ambition is realistic remains contested. Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu said in October 2024 that frequent grid failures were inevitable given outdated infrastructure, noting the grid collapsed no fewer than 11 times in 2024. The African Development Bank estimates that achieving universal electricity access across the continent will require investments of about US$454 billion.
The banks say a pipeline of tens of millions of additional connections is expected by the end of 2026, with more compacts due at the Africa Energy Forum. For Nigeria’s roughly 87 million citizens still without electricity, the pace of delivery, rather than the promises, may ultimately determine the success of the initiative.