Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ethiopia have emerged as the biggest beneficiaries of a major World Bank-backed electrification drive across Africa, helping to connect more than 50 million people to electricity in less than three years, an analysis of the Mission 300 Progress Report obtained by our correspondent has shown.
The report, which tracks electricity connections delivered through World Bank Group-financed operations between July 1, 2023, and April 30, 2026, revealed that 40 African countries have benefited from 85 electricity access projects, bringing power to homes, businesses, schools, and health facilities across the continent.
However, the report also exposed persistent gaps in Africa’s electrification efforts, showing that eight countries are yet to record a single new electricity connection under the programme despite ongoing or approved projects. The Mission 300 initiative, backed by the World Bank Group and other development partners, seeks to provide electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030, tackling one of the continent’s most pressing development challenges.
“In Tanzania, for example, 7.5 million people have gained access to power under Mission 300, a five-fold increase in the average annual pace of electrification prior to the initiative, driven by increased financing and growing policy momentum.” “In Ethiopia, 4.6 million people have been connected, supported by reforms that made grid connections more affordable.
50 million people connected is a milestone, but the bigger story is the pace and the partnership behind it. “Mission 300 is helping countries move faster, connect more people, and build a platform that will last well beyond this effort, which others can use, build on, and scale for years to come.
At the end of the day, electricity is not just about power. It is about what it enables: jobs, business, health care, education, and opportunity,” the President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, was quoted as saying. A review of the latest figures showed that Tanzania recorded the highest number of new electricity connections among participating countries, with 7.5 million people gaining access to power.
The East African nation achieved the feat through its Rural Electrification Expansion Programme, which connected five million people, and the Tanzania Accelerating Sustainable and Clean Energy Access Transformation Programme, which added another 2.5 million beneficiaries.
Ethiopia came second with approximately 4.67 million people connected to electricity through four major projects. Its Ethiopia Electrification Programme accounted for 3.4 million connections, while the Electricity Network Reinforcement and Expansion Project added 1.1 million beneficiaries.
The Access to Distributed Electricity and Lighting in Ethiopia project contributed 165,000 additional connections. Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million people, ranked third on the continent with about 4.51 million new electricity connections. The report showed that Nigeria’s Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up Project accounted for 3.6 million beneficiaries, while the Nigeria Electrification Project connected 619,000 people, and the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme added another 292,000.
Further analysis of the report showed that Côte d’Ivoire secured fourth position with about 2.9 million connections, driven by the country’s Electricity Transmission and Access Project and the National Electricity Digitalisation and Access Operation. Tied closely behind were Uganda and Tanzania’s regional peers.