By Cecilia Chiluba/Zambia/Lusaka
African Union (AU) says more than 600 million Africans remain without access to electricity, a gap it describes as a fundamental obstacle to dignity, livelihoods and development, rather than a technical shortfall measured only in megawatts.
Speaking at the official opening of the Continental Energy and Infrastructure Investment Forum (CEIIF) in Lusaka-Zambia, AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Lerato Mataboge said the absence of reliable power continues to shape everyday life across the continent, limiting economic opportunity and access to basic services.
Mataboge noted that unreliable electricity has forced clinics to shut down at sunset and caused small businesses to collapse during repeated outages.
She observed that even modest improvements can be transformative. “When the power becomes reliable, not perfect, just reliable, lives changed,” she said.
Mataboge added that the scale of energy poverty explains why electricity has been elevated to the centre of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
She stressed that addressing the needs of the 600 million people without electricity will require a continental approach, pointing to progress on the African Single Electricity Market (AfSEM), which seeks to link Africa’s five regional power pools into a unified market.
According to Mataboge, 2025 marked a turning point toward implementation, with advances in governance structures, regulatory alignment and capacity building.
“Africa cannot achieve energy security through fragmented national grids. Power must flow across borders so risks can be shared and investment can scale.”
Looking ahead, Mataboge said the AU is shifting focus from policy frameworks to delivery, with the second phase of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA II) identifying 69 priority regional projects aimed at expanding access and reliability.
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema, officially opened the Conference with a call for deeper regional integration in energy, describing regional power pools as essential building blocks toward a single electricity market for Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
President Hichilema said regional economic blocs such as SADC, the East African Community and ECOWAS have already built experience in cross-border cooperation that should now be scaled up continent-wide.
“A single electricity market for Africa will not come from theory alone, it will come from practical cooperation, shared infrastructure and coordinated investments across regions,” he said.
He reaffirmed Zambia’s commitment to reforms and to working with regional and international partners to accelerate joint investments in energy and infrastructure, arguing that credible implementation—not more declarations—will determine Africa’s future.
“We must be persistent. “
If we fix implementation and fix the cost of capital, Africa can move at the right speed,” he added.
At the same event, Zambia’s Energy Minister, Makozo Chikote said the country plans to expand national generation capacity from 3.7 gigawatts in 2023 to 10 gigawatts by 2030, with solar and other renewables playing a central role.
Mr. Chikote stated that beyond generation, the Zambian government is prioritizing interconnectivity to move power efficiently across the country and beyond its borders.
The 2026 edition of CEIIF marks a historic milestone, as it is the first time the Forum is being hosted outside of South Africa.
CEIIF has firmly established itself as a flagship pan-African investment platform, convening governments, investors, project developers, development finance institutions and the private sector to advance energy security, infrastructure development and regional industrialization across the continent.
