|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
In 2024, the World Bank Group (WBG) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) launched Mission 300, a transformative program to connect 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030. With 600 million Africans currently lacking electricity and nearly 900 million people without access to clean energy cooking, this initiative promises to be a game changer in addressing energy poverty and unlocking economic opportunities.
Mission 300 aims to expand the electricity grid and increase connections in underserved areas, deploy mini-grids and standalone solar solutions for off-grid communities and modernize Africa’s energy sector through policy reforms, private sector engagement, and infrastructure investment. This initiative is built on strong partnerships between multilateral development banks, African governments, private investors, philanthropies, and local communities, making it one of the most ambitious energy access programs to date. As a result, the AfDB has approved over $3.9 million in support of African countries in the implementation of their National Energy Compacts into action under Mission 300.
The Energy Compacts are national plans in which governments set out how they will expand electricity access, strengthen their power sectors, and attract investment. Over the past year, dozens of African countries including Uganda have launched these compacts, backed by strong political commitments and pledges from development partners.
Uganda’s Energy Compact serves as the country’s flagship national instrument, outlining a unified, results-oriented framework to accelerate the transition toward universal energy access, climate resilience, and inclusive green growth. The compact set out four (4) targets including, access to electricity, access to clean cooking, renewable energy and installed capacity and Private capital mobilization.
For instance, by 2030, Uganda aims to deliver electricity to 85%, adding over 13 million new connections through grid densification, 2,700 mini-grids, and 6 million standalone solar systems, increase clean cooking access from 25% to 50% of the population by 2030, serving over 4.6 million more households with a segmented fuel mix (LPG, electric, bioethanol, biogas, and improved cookstoves), expanding power generation from 2,099 MW to 8.3 GW by 2030 as well as mobilizing $9.4 billion in private capital by 2030 across generation, transmission, and clean cooking. This will be achieved through competitive auctions, the Independent Power Transmission (IPT) framework, the Green Energy Facility, and innovative instruments like green bonds and carbon finance, scaling up to meet our Tenfold Growth target by 2040.
However, whereas the government has significantly increased Uganda’s installed electricity capacity from 609,4MW in 2012 to 2098.6 MW and implemented policies like the Free Electricity Connection Policy (2018–2027) to raise electricity access to 60% by 2027, national grid electricity access currently sits at only 25.3%, with rural access lagging at a mere 9.1%.
In terms of clean cooking, only 3.8% of households are using clean fuel and technology for cooking where 6.5% of households in urban areas used clean fuel and technology for cooking as compared to 1.9% of those in rural areas. The dependence on wood fuel for cooking impacts negatively on the health of the person using it and the environment.
As a result, majority of rural households still rely on inefficient and costly energy sources such as firewood, charcoal, kerosene, solar lamps and others leading to severe health and environmental repercussions and economic losses, particularly affecting women and girls. Notwithstanding Uganda’s evident commitment to enhancing rural electrification through substantial investments in infrastructure and subsidies, a critical gap persists between policy intentions and execution due to inadequately addressed issues like high initial connection costs, affordability, and reliability.
In addition, the electricity sector is still struggling with power outages that last for many hours, unstable power supply characterized by on-and-off power, vandalism and others. Indeed, a Business Climate Index (BCI) survey conducted by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) noted that 42% of businesses experienced some form of electricity instability between April and June 2025. The Auditor General (AG) also observed that in 2025, hospitals struggled with unreliable power supply amidst limited power backup capacities.
Therefore, Mission 300 has the potential to transform Uganda’s energy landscape, but only if it expands its focus beyond just increasing connections and kilowatt capacity. The real issue is not technical; Uganda’s energy access challenges stem from existing problems in the electricity sector that prevent people from benefiting from the available surplus power. Addressing these sector challenges is the key to improving energy access in the country.
Patrick Edema
Community Climate and Energy Shield Initiative (CCESI)
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are solely for the author/writer. They don’t reflect those of Ultimate News, It’s Affiliates of Owners. Have a story or opinion in your community?, Let’s publish it. Send us an email via ultimatenews19@gmail.com.
