Lights power action: electrifying Africa

Increased off-grid and mini-grid investments could solve Africa’s electricity crisis, says Annan report. African governments and their partners need to move faster to bridge the continent’s huge energy gap. That means adopting every available solution, on and off the grid, according to a new report from Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel. The report, Lights Power Action: Electrifying Africa, is launched at the African Development Bank headquarters in Abidjan. It calls for a significant boost in investment in a range of solutions that can solve Africa’s energy crisis as quickly as possible. Lights Power Action underlines that the 620 million Africans without access to electricity cannot wait for grid expansion. Grid-connected megaprojects such as large dams and power pools are essential to scale up national and regional energy generation and transmission, but they are slow and expensive. Governments must also increase investment in off-grid and mini-grid solutions, which are cheaper and quicker to install.