For millions of Africans, living without reliable electricity is a daily reality. Energy poverty, which affects nearly 600 million people primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, presents a major obstacle to improving livelihoods and achieving sustainable development goals.
Without electricity, basic tasks such as cooking, studying, or running a business become arduous or even dangerous. Furthermore, reliance on traditional fuels like kerosene and wood contributes to respiratory illnesses, environmental degradation, and social inequalities. Addressing Africa’s energy deficit is essential for improving quality of life, fostering economic growth, and bolstering climate resilience.
The State of African Energy 2025 Outlook by the African Energy Chamber highlights three major challenges: expanding electricity access, ensuring affordability, and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Despite these hurdles, Africa has a unique advantage in its abundant renewable resources, particularly solar and wind energy. Vast deserts and long coastlines offer ideal conditions for large-scale solar and wind power generation. While infrastructure and investment challenges persist, the rapidly falling costs of renewable technologies present an unprecedented opportunity to electrify both urban and rural areas.
Decentralized energy solutions, such as solar home systems and mini-grids, are emerging as the most effective means of extending electricity to isolated rural communities. These systems combine solar panels, batteries, and backup generators to create standalone or localized networks, bypassing the need for traditional grid connections. Solar home systems now power lights, radios, and phone chargers in millions of households, while mini-grids electrify entire villages. Over the last decade, solar installations in Africa have increased exponentially, with 77 million people gaining access to electricity through solar home systems and three million through mini-grids by 2022.
Financing remains critical to scaling up these solutions. Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) models have enabled low-income households to afford solar power through manageable installments. Large-scale initiatives like the African Development Bank’s Desert-to-Power project, backed by international funding, aim to install 10 GW of solar power across 11 countries by 2030, providing electricity to 250 million people. To ensure sustainable progress, policymakers must secure funding, maintain subsidies, and foster collaboration between governments, private sector players, and development banks.
Decentralised renewable energy offers a path to universal electrification, transforming lives and economies across the continent.
Further Africa
