The Rockefeller Foundation has committed $10 million in support Mission 300, a World Bank Group and African Development Bank’s initiative to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
Today, more than 730 million people still lack access to basic electricity, with an estimated 600 million living in Africa. This shortage hinders healthcare, education, digital inclusion, women and children empowerment, the creation of local jobs, building economic opportunity, and more. According to the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, lack of access to electricity is the single greatest predictor of extreme poverty.
“African governments are choosing to transform their energy sectors by committing to National Energy Compacts, driving forward ambitious reforms and investing in African-led solutions to connect hundreds of millions of people to electricity,” William Asiko, senior vice president and head of Africa at The Rockefeller Foundation shared in a press statement. “These new connections will reduce reliance on costly and dangerous alternatives, helping Africans build businesses and improve agricultural yields, while fueling job creation, education, healthcare, and hope.”
With this funding, The Rockefeller Foundation is collaborating with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet to accelerate electrification efforts in at least 15 African countries by providing technical assistance to National Energy Compact Delivery and Monitoring Units (CDMUs), with support already underway in Malawi and Liberia.
Mission 300 Accelerator’s support is also helping to improve CDMU coordination, monitoring, reporting and implementation capacity in Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Senegal, using previously announced funding with its public charity, RF Catalytic Capital (RFCC). To date, the initiative has connected approximately 44 million people to electricity.
During Mission 300 Day at the 2026 Africa Energy Indaba earlier this month, The Rockefeller Foundation also announced that it was expanding technical assistance fellowships to at least 18 African countries and that the initial cohort of “Mission 300 Fellows” are already providing technical support to CDMUs in Burundi, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Republic of Congo, Senegal and Sierra Leone.