Ruto, Other Presidents Plan to Connect 300 Million Africans to Electricity

To ensure that more African households have access to electricity, President William Ruto has joined other African leaders in a program that will see 300 Million people across Africa connected to power.

Ruto joined other African leaders during the African Heads of State Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Tuesday, January 28 for the launch of the ambitious initiative.

Named ‘Mission 300’, the initiative seeks to deliver affordable and sustainable power to more than 300 million people, half of the 600 million people in the continent without electricity by 2030.

Key partners in the electrification drive include the World Bank, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), The Rockefeller Foundation, and the African Union.

To facilitate the project, the World Bank will inject between $30 billion and $40 billion into the project (Ksh4 trillion and Ksh5 trillion) while the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) is investing $18 billion (Ksh2.3 Trillion) over the five years.

Speaking during the Summit, Tanzania President Samia Suluhu hailed the project terming it more than energy but a project that will empower families, lifting millions out of poverty, and providing hope and opportunities for the youth.

World Bank President Ajay Banga said that the project is a wider scope of the cornerstone of the jobs agenda and the foundation of future growth.

According to the stakeholders, the collaborative effort emphasizes clean cooking solutions that are expected to prevent 600,000 deaths of women and children annually due to smoke exposure.

Apart from President Ruto and President Suluhu, others present at the function were President Mohamed Ould Ghazaouani of Mauritania.

The heads of State signed the Dar es Salaam Energy Declaration, outlining practical actions to be undertaken by the leaders to accelerate energy sector reforms in their respective countries.

Before heading to Tanzania for the Summit, the president had already launched several electrification projects in the country including in Kakamega and Busia Counties.

In Busia, the president commissioned the Kinjavi Village Electrification project that saw 192 households connected to electricity.