Nearly 600 million people or roughly half the population in Sub- Saharan Africa live without access to electricity, and over 1.8 million schools and 145,000 health care facilities are without reliable power. [4] The lack of electricity access is especially pronounced in rural areas and limits the resilience, welfare and economic opportunities of a majority of Africans. Off-grid solar is crucial to closing this energy gap and represents the least cost and fastest way to reach upwards of 45% of people with clean, low-cost electricity.
The World Bank and African Development Bank’s Mission 300 is a bold initiative to connect 300 million people to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030 and will help drive the region’s transition to more diversified and cleaner sources of energy. The M300 initiative specifically targets partnership with the private sector and positions off-grid solar companies to deliver on upwards of 45% of its energy access goals, unlocking power for agriculture, enterprise and social infrastructure. [5]
Mission 300 specifically targets partnership with the private sector to reach its off-grid electrification goals. Mission 300 will Globally, the off-grid sector is already providing 560 million people with improved access to energy including 385 million with Tier1+ electricity, via solar light, power, communications, irrigation and cooling systems. [6]
Providing 135 million people to access off-grid solar will:
The cost of achieving this impact and reaching almost half of the M300 access target with off-grid solar solutions is $7 billion, less than a quarter of the amount the World Bank Group has advised it will unlock in public finance. The financing will require more concessional capital with:
Providing this level of financing and support will require the rapid acceleration of subsidy and funding deployment, the powerful use of catalytic financing to de-risk investments and supportive policies and regulations at the national level.
We urge the World Bank Group, African Development Bank, National Governments and their partners in Mission 300 to take immediate action, including:
Mission 300 is an historic opportunity to ensure that the poorest and most climate vulnerable citizens are not left behind in the clean energy transition. The off-grid industry is ready to work in partnership to achieve the M300 goals and the wider ambition of universal access to electricity by 2030.
[1] Bottom-Up Demand Scenario, Global Electrification Platform (analysis based on sub-Saharan Africa, using data available in 2025)
[2] Analysis using the methodology within the Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2024
[3] New Partnership Aims to Connect 300 million to electricity by 2030
[4] IEA, IRENA, UNSD, World Bank, WHO. 2024. Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report. World Bank, Washington DC. © World Bank.
[5] Bottom-Up Demand Scenario, Global Electrification Platform (analysis based on sub-Saharan Africa, using data available in 2025)
[6] Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), GOGLA, Dalberg. 2024. Off-Grid Solar Market Trend Report 2024. Washington, DC: The World Bank
[7] Analysis using the methodology within the Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2024
[8] Analysis using the methodology within the Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2024
Photography by Jeffrey Michael Walcott, Julia Gunther, current and previous GOGLA members
Photography by Jeffrey Michael Walcott, Julia Gunther, current and previous GOGLA members