Sep 26, 2025 (African Development Bank/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
Mission 300, the joint effort led by the African Development Bank Group and the World Bank Group to connect an additional 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030 took a major step forward on Wednesday with the unveiling in New York of a second batch of National Energy Compacts, by seventeen African countries.
This brings the number of countries that have now finalised their compacts to twenty-nine. The compacts are comprehensive documents outlining data-driven targets, policy measures, and resource commitments by African governments, all aimed at achieving the overall objective of Mission 300. Compact development and implementation are country-led, with an emphasis on engagements with local communities and civil society groups, as well as rigorous mechanisms for monitoring progress.
The launch event took place at the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum, on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly. In attendance were the President of Ethiopia, Taye Atske Selassie, President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, Prime Minister of Lesotho, Sam Matekane, Prime Minister of Sao Tome & Principe, Americo d'Oliveira dos Ramos, and Michael Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies. They were joined by government ministers and senior officials, development partners, and representatives of the private sector and philanthropic organisations.
The seventeen countries that launched their energy compacts today--collectively referred to as "Cohort 2"--are Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, the Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
They join the first cohort of twelve countries which unveiled their compacts at a high-level summit to kick off Mission 300 in Dar es Salam, Tanzania, in January 2025; attended by 48 national delegations, including 21 Heads of State and Government.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, noted that the first batch of compacts identified over 400 policy actions aimed at strengthening utilities, simplifying regulation, reducing losses, and improving the business environment.
He added, "The progress is measurable. Because of M300, 30 million people are already connected in our partnership with the African Development Bank and others. A pipeline to reach more than 100 million additional people is already moving through procurement, through financing and through construction."
President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Sidi Ould Tah, who assumed office on September 1, reiterated Mission 300's alignment with the Bank Group's vision and the four "cardinal points" of his presidency: resource mobilization at scale; reforming Africa's financial architecture; harnessing the continent's abundant demographic potential; and delivering resilient infrastructure.
"At the African Development Bank Group, we are highly committed to speed, synergy, scale, and impact," he affirmed, adding that the significance of M300 lies both in its high ambitions as well as its emphasis on collaboration--"bringing for the first time a variety of partners, including private sector, philanthropies" to bridge Africa's energy access gap.
In her remarks, Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Acumen, a global non-profit, announced that its new USD 250 million Hardest-to-Reach Fund has this week reached financial close, "in partnership with M300." The Fund will deliver off-grid solar light and electricity connections to 70 million low-income Africans across 16 countries.
Mission 300 seeks to cut in half the population of Africans currently living without access to electricity, estimated at 600 million people--representing 83 percent of the global total. Of this number, the World Bank Group is expected to deliver access to 250 million people, while the African Development Bank Group will target 50 million.
Other key partners in the Mission 300 coalition include the UN Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll), the Rockefeller Foundation, and Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP).
In addition to these founding partners are a group of multilateral development banks and development finance institutions that have so far pledged financing support valued at more than US$ 6 billion, including the Agence Francaise de Developpement, Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank and the OPEC Fund.
The African Development Bank Group's roles in Mission 300 include direct financing, mobilizing private sector financing, and assisting with partner coordination. The Bank also provides technical assistance to national governments, by supporting regulatory reforms, power utility upgrades, as well as the establishment and operationalization of Compact Delivery and Monitoring Units (CDMUs) within national governments.
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