Prime Highlights 

• Leading African minigrid CEOs released a 17-step action plan calling for faster delivery and stronger coordination to meet the continent’s electrification targets. 

• The plan supports Mission 300, aiming to provide electricity to 300 million people by 2030, emphasizing minigrids as a central solution. 

Key Facts 

• The Mission 300 initiative targets 23 million minigrid connections by the end of the decade, requiring $28–46 billion in total funding. 

• Minigrid companies currently operate 392 sites, have invested over $300 million, and have a development pipeline exceeding 1 gigawatt. 

Background 

Leading minigrid company CEOs operating across Africa on Tuesday released a 17-step action plan, urging governments, funders, and industry players to move faster to meet the continent’s electrification targets. The plan supports Mission 300, a World Bank and African Development Bank initiative that aims to provide electricity to 300 million people by 2030.

The action plan forms part of a Mission 300 Industry Position Paper endorsed by minigrid developers active across Africa. Mission 300 has already secured Energy Compacts with 29 African governments. An analysis of these agreements shows that governments expect minigrids to play a central role, targeting power access for more than 115 million people, or about 23 million connections, by the end of the decade.

Industry leaders said the target is achievable, but only with a major shift in delivery speed and coordination. Delivering 23 million minigrid connections in under five years would require rapid capital deployment, clear regulations, and strong institutional support.

The paper estimates that Mission 300 will need $28 billion to $46 billion in total funding, including more than $10 billion in equity by 2028. Companies stressed the need for access to both corporate equity and local-currency debt to scale operations and expand into new markets.

The CEOs also called for standardised policies, technical rules, and performance indicators across countries. They urged governments to allow cost-reflective tariffs, cut import duties that raise equipment costs, and permit minigrids in commercially viable urban and peri-urban areas.

Another key demand is broader performance measurement. The industry wants Mission 300 to count connections to small businesses and social institutions, not only households, to improve economic impact and system sustainability.

The companies behind the paper currently operate 392 minigrid sites, have invested over $300 million, and hold a development pipeline exceeding 1 gigawatt.