Funded by the Global Environment Facility, the Africa Minigrids Programme will work with the United Nations Development Programme, African Development Bank, and national governments to install mini-grids powered by solar batteries in remote parts of the continent.
The programme has also launched a bid to attract US $65 billion in private capital that will speed up its extension beyond the first phase. Angola, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia are among the countries set to benefit from that first phase; 21 low-income countries have been identified as beneficiaries. If its plan is successful, the programme will connect 265 million people to electricity by 2030.