African Union Puts Power Networks at the Centre of Africa’s Growth Agenda

Africa’s energy challenge is not simply to build more generation; it is to deliver dependable power where households, businesses and public services can use it. African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Dorothy Mataboge made that broader case on September 20 at a Global Africa Business Initiative discussion. Her message linked reliable supply, renewable energy, infrastructure investment and cross-border cooperation to the continent’s growth ambitions.

The remarks were delivered alongside the UN General Assembly, but the agenda was explicitly African. The African Union’s account says Mataboge called for governments, companies and partners to mobilise resources and expertise around African energy goals. It did not announce a new funding package or a newly built power line. The significance of the intervention is its insistence that access, industry and regional integration be treated as connected problems rather than separate conference themes.

Energy access has to support economic use

Electricity changes an economy only when it is available at a price and quality that users can work with. A household connection can extend study hours and improve daily life, while a clinic needs power that stays on when equipment is in use. A manufacturer needs predictable supply for machines and a credible tariff when planning an investment. Mataboge highlighted energy’s role in jobs, transport, health and education. Those links are plausible, but the benefits depend on service quality after the initial connection.

This is why energy-access totals should be read alongside reliability and affordability. A community can be connected on paper while enduring outages, voltage problems or bills that restrict meaningful use. A new industrial park can have a substation but still struggle if the wider network cannot provide steady capacity. Development finance and public policy have to account for operating costs, maintenance and the ability of utilities to collect revenue without excluding low-income customers.

The African Development Bank and World Bank’s Mission 300 seeks to connect an additional 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030. That is a major access goal, not a promise that every new customer will immediately receive industrial-grade service. The AfDB’s public progress tracker is useful because it separates supported projects, connections, financing and implementation status. Similar transparency about service quality and affordability would help determine whether more connections translate into lasting economic opportunity.

Why regional power trade matters

Mataboge also stressed infrastructure that enables cross-border trade. Power systems are often planned within national borders, even though electricity demand, renewable resources and available generation are unevenly distributed. A country with surplus power at one time may be able to supply a neighbour facing a shortage; a larger connected market may make some projects more attractive to investors. The potential is real, but it is conditional on working transmission lines and rules for trading and payment.

The African Single Electricity Market, or AfSEM, is the AU’s flagship effort to support a more integrated continental electricity market. At its third forum in Accra in July, the AU brought together governments, utilities, regulators, regional power pools, lenders and technical partners to advance implementation. That gathering shows the market is being organised, not that a seamless continent-wide grid already exists. The practical work still includes compatible market rules, regional coordination and investments in interconnectors.

Physical transmission is only one part of the transaction. A generator selling across a border needs a buyer that can pay, a way to schedule electricity, agreed treatment of network losses and mechanisms for handling disputes. Regulators must consider how trade affects customers and grid stability on both sides. Without these arrangements, a proposed export deal may remain a press release rather than a dependable source of power. With them, regional exchange could help systems use their existing assets more efficiently.

Cross-border projects can also distribute benefits unequally. Communities along a transmission route may see construction impacts without receiving better local service. An exporting region may question a deal if its own households lack electricity. Public consultation, realistic compensation and transparent data about domestic needs are therefore part of a credible integration strategy, not obstacles to it. Regional trade earns political support when people can see how it contributes to reliable, affordable power at home.

From infrastructure plans to bankable projects

The AU’s Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, known as PIDA, provides a framework for regional infrastructure across energy, transport, communications and transboundary water. Mataboge invoked that framework in her September statement. Its breadth reflects a practical fact: an energy project can depend on roads to move equipment, ports to receive components, digital systems for dispatch and financing structures able to handle long construction periods.

A continental plan is valuable for identifying priorities, but it is not itself project finance. Developers need clear permits, realistic demand estimates, environmental and social safeguards, workable tariffs and creditworthy counterparties. Governments and lenders need to decide which risks belong with the public sector and which can be managed by investors. Calling for private participation will achieve little if the underlying utility cannot pay for purchased electricity or if the rules change unpredictably after a project is approved.

The same discipline applies to renewable energy. Solar and wind can diversify supply and reduce exposure to fuel costs, yet their output varies. Storage, flexible generation, stronger grids and better demand forecasting may be needed to use them effectively. An energy transition built around African conditions should consider the full system cost and the needs of different users. Neither renewable megawatts nor signed memoranda are substitutes for electricity delivered at the right place and time.

What progress would look like

The AU’s renewed emphasis on energy creates a useful test for African institutions and their partners. They can publish project milestones for priority interconnectors, explain which AfSEM market rules have been agreed and identify where national regulators still need to align. Access programmes can report not just new connections but whether schools, clinics and enterprises receive dependable service. Investment announcements can distinguish grants, proposed commitments, financial close and operational assets.

Regional integration will move at different speeds. Some power pools may be ready for more trading while other systems first need local network upgrades or stronger utilities. That is not an argument against a continental ambition. It is a reason to build it through verifiable steps and to avoid treating a summit statement as an outcome. Mataboge’s September message places energy at the heart of Africa’s industrial and social agenda. The measure of success will be whether the continent’s plans produce connected grids, trustworthy transactions and power that people can actually use.