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Financing Electricity Access in Africa State of play
Understanding electricity access financing 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…
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Financing Electricity Access in Africa Executive summary
Lack of capital presents a major impediment to universal electricity access Nearly two out of every five people in Africa – around 600 million in total – still live without access to electricity. Electrification has barely kept pace with population growth, leaving the continent far behind the targets set by African governments and the international community. Progress in reducing the absolute number of people without access has stalled in recent years, with the rate of improvement failing to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels. Fewer than 19 million people gained access in both 2023 and 2024, compared with 23 million in 2019…
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World Energy Outlook 2022 Outlook for solid fuels
Recent developments have dealt a blow to the idea that global coal demand might soon subside. The drop in coal demand in 2020 was more than offset by a strong rebound in 2021, taking it very close to its all-time high. In advanced economies, where coal use had been declining, demand increased by nearly 10%. In emerging market and developing economies, which account for just over 80% of global coal use today, demand rose by 5%.Coal production in 2021 struggled to keep pace with one of the largest ever annual increases in demand. Markets have been further upended…
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Energy Efficiency 2025 Industry
How and where is energy used? Total final consumption in 2024 was over 450 EJ and has grown by around 25 EJ since 2019. Industry accounts for the largest share of this demand, at nearly 40%. Industry saw the strongest growth since 2019, contributing two-thirds of the total increase in global energy demand. The industrial sector can be divided into energy-intensive industries, responsible for three-quarters of total industrial demand, and less intensive industries, which are responsible for the remainder.In energy-intensive industries, energy is largely used in processes that require high-temperature heat, generally above 500°C. Efficiency improvements…
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Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as one of the most consequential technologies of our time. In recent years, the capabilities of AI systems have grown quickly due to improved computing power, a boom in data availability and breakthroughs in the design of AI models, leading to rapid adoption by both businesses and individuals. Though significant uncertainties remain, AI has the potential to transform the energy sector in the coming decade. It is set to drive a surge in electricity demand from data centres around the world while also unlocking significant opportunities to cut costs, enhance competitiveness and reduce emissions.To…
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Energy Efficiency 2025 Executive summary
Global energy efficiency progress sees improvement in 2025, but remains off track to meet global goal Global energy efficiency progress is set to improve by 1.8% in 2025, up from around 1% in 2024. Preliminary estimates indicate that several key regions are showing some signs of stronger progress compared to their average since 2019. For example, energy intensity progress in 2025 is estimated to be over 3% in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”) and over 4% in India, well above their averages in the years since 2019. In the United States and the European Union (EU…
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Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 Policy mechanisms for diversified mineral supplies
Increasing cost pressures in operations outside dominant producers pose risks to diversification and sustainability efforts Supply chains for key energy minerals are highly concentrated, creating strong incentives for policymakers to build more secure and resilient supply chains through greater diversification. This concentration is often underpinned by network efforts, lower costs, and, in many cases, by relatively energy- and emissions-intensive processes. Capital expenditures for mining and refining in regions outside the dominant player are typically 50% higher than those within the top producing country. These producers also often face higher all-in sustaining costs, making it difficult to remain profitable…
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Financing Electricity Access in Africa Beyond new connections
Providing an affordable, equitable and quality service Affordability constraints can prevent households from gaining access to electricity or from taking advantage of electricity services once a connection is made. An estimated 220 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (around 40% of those without access) would find the basic bundle unaffordable, rising to 400 million for the essential bundle (65% of those without access). Filling this affordability gap would cost an additional USD 2-10 billion per year, via supply-side subsidies to reduce developer costs, demand-side subsidies to reduce consumer costs, or reductions in financing costs.The cost of capital for electricity access projects…
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Renewables 2021 Renewable heat
Recent trends Global progress on conversion to renewable heat has been limited Heat is the world’s largest energy end use, accounting for almost half of global final energy consumption in 2021, significantly more than electricity (20%) and transport (30%). Industrial processes are responsible for 51% of the energy consumed for heat, while another 46% is consumed in buildings for space and water heating, and, to a lesser extent, cooking. The remainder is used in agriculture, primarily for greenhouse heating. Global heat demand declined by 2% in 2020, primarily due to the curtailment of economic activity as a result of…
