Mission 300 The Ambitious Project To Smash Africas Power Deficit

Despite immense strides made in recent years in Africas energy provision - including huge leaps in renewable energy supply - around 600m Africans are still living without power.

Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank AfDB, argues that the energy deficit, which leaves half of Africans without reliable supply, is continuing to have a serious impact on Africas development agenda.

No economy can grow, industrialise or be competitive in the dark without electricity, he says.

Now, the African Development Bank, in partnership with the World Bank Group and a coalition of global organisations, is aiming to provide at least 300m people in Africa with access to electricity by 2030. The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet GEAPP, Sustainable Energy for All SEforALL, and The Rockefeller Foundation have announced their support for what has been dubbed Mission 300.

Mission 300 involves the launch of a new technical assistance facility, the establishment of a new M300 Leadership Group with the AfDB and World Bank, and the mobilisation of private-sector financing to drive Africas electrification efforts.