Policy Harmonization, Regional Trade Key to Closing Africa’s Energy Gap
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African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Dorothy Mataboge has called for harmonized energy policies, coordinated investment and stronger cross-border electricity trade to address Africa’s energy deficit, as approximately 600 million people across the continent remain without access to electricity.
Speaking at the Global Africa Business Initiative’s (GABI) Unstoppable Africa 2026 event in New York, Mataboge said the continent needs $64 billion annually to close its electricity access gap and expand power generation.
She said Africa needs to install 26 gigawatts of electricity generation capacity annually through 2030, compared with the current pace of approximately 7 to 8 gigawatts a year.
She emphasized that addressing the continent’s energy deficit requires more than expanding electricity generation. African countries must also develop the capacity to finance, transmit and trade electricity across national borders.
Mataboge identified policy harmonization and regional electricity trade as central to Africa’s pursuit of energy sovereignty, emphasizing the need for African countries to coordinate their energy systems and develop the capacity to exchange electricity across borders.
“For us, the sovereignty question is really around how do we ensure that our member states are able to plan, to finance, to produce, to transmit, and to trade in that energy?” she said.
