The key to Africa’s clean-energy future
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In Kiguna, a rural community in Nigeria, the fish trader Blessing Bitrus used to have just a few precious hours to sell the day’s catch of tilapia and catfish from the nearby river before it spoiled under the hot sun. Despite keeping prices low, nearly half of her fish went to waste most days.
But Blessing no longer needs to race against the clock owing to a three-ton cold-storage room connected to a solar-powered mini-grid. The intense sunlight that used to spoil her fish now enables its preservation. Blessing is not the only one to benefit: around 100 local fishers and traders use the room. The resulting reduction in food waste has increased average earnings by 30%.
Kiguna’s refrigeration unit and solar power was built as part of a larger clean-energy project that began in 2021 and has since connected 6,000 homes and businesses to solar power in five Nigerian states. As the international community grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, this quiet clean-energy transformation boosted the resilience and productivity of farmers and other food producers, created jobs, and supported sustainable development in rural communities across Nigeria.
That outcome holds an important lesson for today’s world. Rising geopolitical uncertainty has led many wealthy governments to slash foreign aid – a devastating blow to global development efforts. As a result, projects are shutting down, people are losing access to essential services, and many countries are increasingly at risk of a humanitarian crisis. But even against this challenging backdrop, the world leaders gathering at this week’s United Nations General Assembly can still find ways to address slow-burning problems.
One of those problems is that nearly 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity. With Africa’s youth population projected to grow by 138 million people over the next quarter-century, this energy crisis could become an employment crisis. To generate enough good jobs for Africa’s growing population, we must help countries across the continent expand access to affordable and reliable clean energy, and provide local communities with the tools and training to turn that power into opportunity.
The good news is that there is a path to progress – even amid a tighter funding environment. Leading the way is Mission 300, which brings together African governments, the private sector, and philanthropic organizations to provide electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030.
The clean-energy project that helped Blessing and her community shows how these stakeholders can work together effectively. A modest investment from the Nigerian government, coupled with catalytic philanthropic capital, was sufficient to encourage firms to invest in the project. Equally important were regulatory reforms that cut grid connection costs by up to 40% and reduced permitting timelines for new initiatives, creating a pipeline of projects and training programs that will reach hundreds of thousands of Nigerians.
This is not an isolated case. Relatively small investments have helped achieve dramatic advances in clean energy across the developing world. India’s first utility-scale battery storage system is expected to deliver reliable clean electricity to low-income consumers and drive a shift toward grid stability. In Haiti, mesh grids – decentralized mini-grids made up of interconnected clusters of rooftop solar panels – are powering some of the most remote communities and demonstrating a model for last-mile electrification in rural and conflict-affected areas. Likewise, Indonesia’s Tembesi floating solar power plant can serve as an example for expanding energy access in vulnerable coastal economies.
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet’s recently released 2025 impact report reveals the common factor underlying these projects’ success: a coalition of public, private, and philanthropic partners united by a shared goal. This highlights the importance of a multi-stakeholder and system-scale approach to tackling big problems. Such a strategy makes the most of limited funds, recognizes different perspectives and expertise, accommodates various levels of risk tolerance, and enables each actor to play to its strengths.
Every developing country and region has its own energy challenges, but progress is possible when governments, businesses, and philanthropies work together. As climate change worsens, energy crises mount, and multilateralism wanes, global stability will depend on replicating Blessing’s story many times over – in Africa and elsewhere. That makes multi-stakeholder partnerships more important than ever.
-Project Syndicate
But Blessing no longer needs to race against the clock owing to a three-ton cold-storage room connected to a solar-powered mini-grid. The intense sunlight that used to spoil her fish now enables its preservation. Blessing is not the only one to benefit: around 100 local fishers and traders use the room. The resulting reduction in food waste has increased average earnings by 30%.
Kiguna’s refrigeration unit and solar power was built as part of a larger clean-energy project that began in 2021 and has since connected 6,000 homes and businesses to solar power in five Nigerian states. As the international community grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, this quiet clean-energy transformation boosted the resilience and productivity of farmers and other food producers, created jobs, and supported sustainable development in rural communities across Nigeria.
That outcome holds an important lesson for today’s world. Rising geopolitical uncertainty has led many wealthy governments to slash foreign aid – a devastating blow to global development efforts. As a result, projects are shutting down, people are losing access to essential services, and many countries are increasingly at risk of a humanitarian crisis. But even against this challenging backdrop, the world leaders gathering at this week’s United Nations General Assembly can still find ways to address slow-burning problems.
One of those problems is that nearly 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity. With Africa’s youth population projected to grow by 138 million people over the next quarter-century, this energy crisis could become an employment crisis. To generate enough good jobs for Africa’s growing population, we must help countries across the continent expand access to affordable and reliable clean energy, and provide local communities with the tools and training to turn that power into opportunity.
The good news is that there is a path to progress – even amid a tighter funding environment. Leading the way is Mission 300, which brings together African governments, the private sector, and philanthropic organizations to provide electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030.
The clean-energy project that helped Blessing and her community shows how these stakeholders can work together effectively. A modest investment from the Nigerian government, coupled with catalytic philanthropic capital, was sufficient to encourage firms to invest in the project. Equally important were regulatory reforms that cut grid connection costs by up to 40% and reduced permitting timelines for new initiatives, creating a pipeline of projects and training programs that will reach hundreds of thousands of Nigerians.
This is not an isolated case. Relatively small investments have helped achieve dramatic advances in clean energy across the developing world. India’s first utility-scale battery storage system is expected to deliver reliable clean electricity to low-income consumers and drive a shift toward grid stability. In Haiti, mesh grids – decentralized mini-grids made up of interconnected clusters of rooftop solar panels – are powering some of the most remote communities and demonstrating a model for last-mile electrification in rural and conflict-affected areas. Likewise, Indonesia’s Tembesi floating solar power plant can serve as an example for expanding energy access in vulnerable coastal economies.
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet’s recently released 2025 impact report reveals the common factor underlying these projects’ success: a coalition of public, private, and philanthropic partners united by a shared goal. This highlights the importance of a multi-stakeholder and system-scale approach to tackling big problems. Such a strategy makes the most of limited funds, recognizes different perspectives and expertise, accommodates various levels of risk tolerance, and enables each actor to play to its strengths.
Every developing country and region has its own energy challenges, but progress is possible when governments, businesses, and philanthropies work together. As climate change worsens, energy crises mount, and multilateralism wanes, global stability will depend on replicating Blessing’s story many times over – in Africa and elsewhere. That makes multi-stakeholder partnerships more important than ever.
-Project Syndicate
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