As of 2024, around 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (47% of the population) did not have access to electricity. With electrification barely keeping up with population growth rates, progress remains far off the pace envisaged both by African governments and international organisations. Reaching universal access requires a cost-effective, multi-technology approach, with grid extension, mini-grids and stand-alone systems all playing a role to ensure affordable service provision to unelectrified communities. Notably, financing has been one of the primary impediments to growth.

For the first time, the IEA has tracked electricity access financing commitments, showing that less than USD 2.5 billion per year is being directed to sub-Saharan Africa. About half of financing (48%) is for access via the grid. However, decentralised solutions – mini-grids and stand-alone systems – have proved essential alternatives and saw a 20% increase in their level of financing between 2019 and 2023.

Private finance for electricity access remains limited, reaching USD 640 million (or 25% of total commitments) in 2023. The vast majority of this private capital comes from international sources, with impact investors providing over USD 1 billion to decentralised solutions over the five-year period. This reliance on international capital makes it challenging for smaller, often African-owned companies to scale up, illustrating the need to mobilise more financing from local institutions.

Given the tight profit margins and affordability constraints facing electricity access projects, public finance plays a vital role. Financing from international public providers reached USD 1.8 billion in 2023, primarily in the form of low-cost debt, with a notable shift away from grants in recent years. New initiatives, including the World Bank and African Development Bank’s Mission 300, aim to increase the level of public capital for access projects, and are already showing momentum.

Allocations to electricity access in African governments’ national budgets reached USD 1.9 billion in 2025 – around a third of total energy budget allocations. Much of this financing is channelled through government agencies and state-owned utilities. However, utilities across the region face financial pressures due to high operational costs, low tariffs and collection rates, hindering their ability to deliver last-mile programmes and often requiring government budgetary support.

Current financing trends reveal a major gap in the availability of equity. Equity investment averaged USD 450 million per year during 2019-2023, and while there has been a gradual annual increase since 2020, it has been concentrated in mature companies and markets, preventing early-stage companies from being able to scale up or fund growth into new projects.