Preparing a meal in Botswana. One of the main goals of the programme is to protect Africans from lung diseases caused by cooking on wood fires (Nglazi/CC BY 4.0)

A conference held in Tanzania last week to progress the electrification of Africa has resulted in a pledge to spend more than $50bn on expanding the continent’s grids and generating capacity.

The Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit was hosted by Tanzania and the World Bank in Dar es Salaam.

The event’s title refers to the goal of providing electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030.

The target was announced by the World Bank and its African Development Bank (AfDB) subsidiary in April.

The declaration will this month be submitted to an African Union Summit for formal adoption.

It is estimated that more than 600 million of Africa’s 1.4 billion people lack access to electricity.

The funding was promised by development banks and international partners, and will be invested in renewable energy, and transmission and distribution infrastructure.

The AfDB and the World Bank will allocate $48bn to the programme. Agence Française de Développement, Opec and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will each contribute $1bn, and the Islamic Development Bank allocated $2.7bn

The World Bank also launched Zafiri, an investment company that will funnel private investment into areas such as renewable micro-grids and solar home systems. It aims to use $300m of pump priming to mobilise $1bn in private capital.

Twelve countries, including Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia, set out detailed plans for increasing renewable energy capacity and private sector investment.

AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina said regulatory reforms would be needed to expand the share of renewables, ensure transparency in the award of licensing and power purchase agreements and to establish predictable tariff regimes.

He said: “Our collective effort is to support you, heads of state and government, in developing and implementing clear, country-led national energy compacts to deliver on your visions for electricity in your respective countries.”