The World Bank Group and African Development Bank (AfDB) are backing a new international financing initiative launched at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, to mobilise investment for electricity infrastructure and clean electrification across developing economies. The Electrify Now Finance Coalition, which will begin its work programme in 2027 and operate through to COP33 in 2028, brings together governments, development banks and private investors to address financing and regulatory barriers that have slowed electricity expansion. For Africa, where nearly 600 million people remain without electricity, the initiative comes as governments face pressure to expand power networks while managing constrained public budgets and high borrowing costs.
The coalition forms part of the COP31 Presidency’s 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge, which aims to increase electricity’s share of global final energy consumption from approximately 23% to 35% by 2035. Its work will focus on helping developing countries prepare investable projects, reduce investment risks, address regulatory constraints and improve access to finance. According to the coalition’s launch announcement, the World Bank Group will serve as a co-chair in 2027, working with the COP31 Presidency, Ethiopia’s incoming COP32 Presidency, multilateral development banks and private finance institutions. The African Development Bank is among the institutions supporting the wider electrification effort, including through a related financing facility for South Africa’s electricity grid.
The announcement reflects a growing recognition that electricity access in developing economies depends on more than additional generation capacity. Transmission networks, distribution infrastructure, battery storage and the financial viability of utilities determine whether new power can reach households and businesses reliably. For African economies, these constraints have direct consequences for industrial productivity, agricultural processing, digital services and the cost of doing business.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), around 600 million people in Africa still lack access to electricity, with progress in recent years failing to keep pace with the scale of demand. Fewer than 19 million people gained electricity access in each of 2023 and 2024, compared with 23 million in 2019. The agency estimates that nearly $150 billion in cumulative investment, equivalent to about $15 billion annually, will be required to achieve universal electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2035.
The financing gap is not limited to large power plants. The IEA estimates that around $7 billion annually will be needed for grid expansion, approximately $5 billion for mini-grids and a further $3 billion for standalone solar systems under its pathway to universal access. This mix reflects the different conditions across African markets, where extending national grids may be viable in densely populated areas but decentralised systems can offer more practical solutions for remote communities.
The distribution of existing finance remains uneven. The IEA found that less than $2.5 billion was committed to new electricity access connections in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2023. Private finance accounted for less than 30% of these flows, while international public finance provided the larger share. Funding was also concentrated geographically, with six countries: Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, receiving about half of the tracked commitments.
These patterns raise questions about how the new coalition will distribute support across countries with different levels of infrastructure development, institutional capacity and investment readiness. Economies with established utilities and stronger regulatory frameworks may be better positioned to attract private capital, while fragile states and low income markets often require grants, concessional finance and technical assistance before projects can become commercially viable.
The coalition’s emphasis on mobilising private investment is accompanied by a new package from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), which will deploy $94 million in catalytic finance through its AMPLIFi programme to support five development bank-led investments. The projects are expected to mobilise more than $1.2 billion in private investment for clean power, electricity networks, storage and wider electrification.
One of the investments has direct implications for Africa’s regional power infrastructure. The CIF will provide $15 million in junior equity to a South African grid investment platform developed with the African Development Bank through its Infrastructure Credit Enhancement Platform. The financing is expected to help mobilise approximately $253 million in private capital for transmission and grid infrastructure, although the final amount will depend on the level of co-financing and portfolio leverage achieved.
Another project will support Liberia’s emerging utility-scale solar market. A $15 million first loss payment guarantee, delivered with the World Bank, is intended to reduce payment risks for private renewable energy developers under the Liberia Electricity Sector Strengthening and Access Project. The facility is expected to help unlock around $200 million for solar and battery storage projects, potentially supporting the country’s first utility-scale private renewable energy independent power producer programme.
The projects illustrate how development finance institutions are attempting to use relatively limited public resources to attract larger volumes of private capital. Guarantees and junior equity can reduce the risks faced by commercial lenders and investors, particularly in markets where utilities have weak balance sheets or electricity tariffs do not fully cover operating costs.
However, the mobilisation of private finance does not automatically resolve the affordability challenge facing African consumers. The IEA estimates that approximately 220 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa without electricity access cannot afford even a basic electricity service bundle without additional support. Expanding connections without addressing household purchasing power could leave many communities unable to benefit fully from new infrastructure.
The structure of financing will therefore be important. Commercial investment may be suitable for projects with predictable revenue streams, while rural electrification, early stage developers and low income communities are likely to require concessional lending, grants or targeted subsidies. An excessive reliance on commercial borrowing could also add to the debt pressures already facing governments and state-owned utilities.
The coalition’s work will include engagement with national governments and regional organisations to identify priority projects and address policy and technical barriers. The launch announcement also highlighted a new partnership involving Ethiopia, the United Kingdom and the Brazil-led Global Clean Power Alliance Finance Mission. The partnership is intended to support Ethiopia’s National Electrification Programme through technical expertise, investment planning and project preparation, with attention to transmission, distribution and grid development.
For Ethiopia, where expanding electricity access is central to industrialisation and economic transformation, the availability of project preparation support could help bridge the gap between national energy targets and investments capable of attracting financing. The initiative also gives the country an opportunity to strengthen its role in regional electricity trade, provided that domestic networks and cross-border infrastructure develop alongside generation capacity.
The wider economic case for electrification is significant. Reliable electricity can reduce dependence on imported fuels, lower operating costs for businesses and support the development of manufacturing, digital infrastructure and agricultural value chains. Electrification of transport, buildings and industrial processes can also reduce emissions where additional electricity is supplied through low-carbon sources. However, these gains depend on the availability of reliable power and the ability of households and enterprises to afford it.
For African governments, the coalition’s effectiveness will ultimately be measured by whether it improves access to capital for projects that would otherwise struggle to reach financial close. That will require stronger project preparation, credible utility reforms, predictable regulation and financing structures that account for local currency risks and the repayment capacity of public institutions.
The initiative also places greater emphasis on the role of regional institutions in coordinating investment. The African Continental Free Trade Area is among the coalition’s confirmed members, while the African Development Bank’s involvement in the wider electrification programme provides a route for connecting national infrastructure priorities with regional financing and electricity market development.
Cross-border power trade could help countries with surplus generation supply markets facing shortages, improve the use of existing infrastructure and reduce the cost of electricity where regional interconnections are commercially viable. But these benefits depend on coordinated regulation, transmission investment and payment arrangements between national utilities.
The Electrify Now Finance Coalition will develop its shared work programme in 2027, with progress expected to be reviewed at international and regional meetings ahead of COP33. Its early priorities will be significant for African countries seeking to convert electricity access commitments into infrastructure projects that can attract long-term investment without worsening public debt pressures.
For a continent still facing one of the world’s largest electricity access gaps, the central issue is not simply how much private capital can be mobilised. It is whether financing reaches underserved communities, strengthens national and regional grids, supports productive economic activity and delivers electricity at prices households and businesses can sustain.
