Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit: Africa-Europe High-Level Policymakers Meeting on Energy

Highlighting the critical need for enhanced coordination of energy initiatives in Africa

On 26 January 2025, at the sidelines of the Africa Energy Summit (AES) where a series of Mission 300 energy compacts were signed, the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) and Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) jointly convened a high-level policymakers meeting to foster cross-continental dialogue and action on energy in view of the new AU-EU institutional cycle, set to start on the back of AU leadership change in February 2025. The meeting, hosted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, focused on “Scaling Energy Investments in Africa – Connecting the Dots to achieve SDG7 Targets”.

Under the leadership of AEEP’s Head of Secretariat, Dr. Towela Nyirenda-Jere, 14 high-level representatives from Africa and Europe explored how to meet Africa’s energy needs by fostering an integrated approach among various existing and emerging energy initiatives supporting access and transitions in Africa, and scaling energy investments. The initiatives discussed included the Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative (AEGEI) and the Mission 300 Initiative (M300), among others.

Participants recognised that investments towards energy infrastructure, and, in particular SDG7 have been insufficient, as also demonstrated in the third edition of AEEP’s report ‘European Financial Flows on SDG7 to Africa’, which was launched during the event. The discussion emphasised a number of challenges currently affecting the roll-out of electricity, including last mile access, affordability, aging infrastructure, and limited development of new ones.

It was highlighted that electricity access progressed, but still not at a sufficient pace, and that clean cooking remains dramatically underfunded. Addressing these challenges were identified as a priority, as it directly impacts the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of Africans. The meeting stressed that scaling up investments in energy infrastructure, while taking into account the need for transition fuels, is also a necessity to meet Africa’s energy demands – both for its development and industrialisation aspirations.

The discussion brought together representatives from African energy ministries, development banks, regional power pools, and development partners to explore ways to accelerate energy investments in Africa and bridge the existing gap through coordinated and multifaceted efforts.

Expanding energy infrastructure is essential to increasing access, particularly for rural and underserved communities, while also meeting the continent's rising energy demand. To achieve this, participants stressed the importance of enhancing project preparation to ensure projects are well-structured, financially viable, and capable of mitigating risks. Additionally, they emphasised the need to curb unsolicited bids, which often result in inefficiencies and higher costs, in favor of competitive tendering processes. Knowledge transfer on how to best structure these tender processes was identified as an area of collaboration.

In addition, policy reforms, including those outlined in the Mission 300 Initiative, are essential to creating a conducive environment for private investments. These reforms should focus on fostering transparent regulatory frameworks and opening access to transmission infrastructure, as well as improving the creditworthiness of utilities. Additionally, risk-mitigation mechanisms such as guarantees, but also more accurate and country specific credit rating would encourage private sector participation. Innovative and viable financing mechanisms, for the international and domestic private sector can mobilise additional resources to scale investments.

Participants acknowledged the proliferation of initiatives in the African energy space. However, they also emphasised that these efforts, while numerous, are not contradictory or duplicative but rather aligned in their shared objective of advancing energy access and meeting development aspirations such as the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the SDGs. It was agreed that there is room for all initiatives to coexist, provided there is effective coordination and alignment.

Emphasis was placed on aligning existing and new initiatives (AEGEI and M300 Initiatives) with African continental initiatives such as the Africa Single Electricity Market (AfSEM), the Continental Power Systems Masterplan (CMP) and the Africa Energy Efficiency Strategy (AfEES), which serve as frameworks for regional and national programmes. Several synergies were identified, including the alignment of the European Union’s Global Gateway corridor approach with CMP strategic interconnector projects, as well as the shared objectives of Mission 300, the Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative (AEGEI), the Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa (APRA) to name a few.

Useful Resource Link:

• AEF Infosheet Bulletin: Taking Africa-Europe’s Energy Partnership to the Next Level.

• Download the outcome note here.