More than 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, underscoring a stark reality: no single energy source will close the continent’s power gap. Instead, African governments are increasingly pursuing a multi-resource energy strategy – leveraging natural gas, renewables, hydropower and existing thermal assets – to expand access, improve grid reliability, and advance the goal of ending energy poverty by 2030.
These priorities will take middle stage at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 through the newly launched Power Africa Today conference. The platform will convene utility executives, policymakers, investors, developers and technology providers to examine how generation expansion, transmission build-out, financing innovation and regional market integration can accelerate electrification and industrial growth across Africa. While discussions will reflect a wide range of ongoing developments across the continent – including renewable energy expansion, gas-to-power projects, grid modernization and cross-border trade – the focus will be on how these efforts can be better aligned into bankable, system-wide solutions that close the energy access gap.
Natural gas continues to play a central role in Africa’s power mix as a flexible, dispatchable fuel that supports industrial growth and complements intermittent renewable generation. At the same time, governments are scaling up utility-scale solar and wind projects alongside decentralized mini-grids and off-grid systems aimed at extending access to remote communities. Emerging technologies such as green hydrogen are also beginning to gain traction, supported by early-stage financing and policy frameworks, including the African Development Bank’s $20 million funding call to de-risk pilot projects.
Alongside generation expansion, power sector reform and infrastructure development are gaining momentum. South Africa’s wholesale electricity market reforms and long-term transmission expansion plans are opening the door to greater private sector participation, while Uganda’s Amari Power Transmission Project – Africa’s first privately financed independent transmission project to reach financial close – signals growing investor appetite for grid infrastructure.
Regional integration is also accelerating, with power pools advancing cross-border electricity trade through harmonized regulatory frameworks. At the same time, large-scale access initiatives such as Mission 300, led by the World Bank and AfDB, are helping to scale electrification efforts, having already connected more than 50 million people across the continent.
“Africa’s pathway to ending energy poverty will require every available resource working together. Natural gas, renewables, hydropower and existing power assets including coal and oil each have a role to play in delivering reliable electricity, supporting industrialization and improving quality of life across the continent,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber.
The Power Africa Today conference at AEW 2026 will provide a dedicated platform to translate these investments, reforms and partnerships into bankable projects – accelerating energy access and supporting sustainable economic growth across the continent.
Africa Fact: In the mid-nineteenth century, William Clarke, an English visitor to Nigeria, remarked that: “As good an article of cloth can be woven by the Yoruba weavers as by any people . . . in durability, their cloths far excel the prints and home-spuns of Manchester.”
Hang 11
Fun South African Fact: Nelson Mandela has six different names in South Africa.
Sweetness
Skebenga / Skelm – a crook / gangster [skuh-beng-guh] A Zulu word for gangster.