Africa is some way behind meeting its commitment to provide universal access to energy by 2030, despite steady gains in electricity connections and renewable energy deployment in the past decade, according to a new report by the African Energy Commission (Afrec).
The Africa Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) Report 2025 finds that while progress has been made in expanding electricity access, it is being outpaced by rapid population growth, deep regional disparities and chronic underinvestment — particularly in clean cooking solutions.
SDG7 is one of the UN’s core development goals and calls for universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy by 2030. The goal is widely regarded as a foundation for economic growth, industrialisation and improved health and education outcomes.
Modern energy refers to reliable electricity and clean cooking fuels such as liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or biogas, rather than firewood or charcoal, which remain widely used across Africa and are linked to health and environmental issues.
According to the report, Africa’s electrification rate rose to 61% in 2023, up from 51% in 2017, showing millions of new household connections across the continent. Electricity access remains the strongest-performing pillar of SDG7 in Africa.
However, about 563-million people still lack electricity, with the majority living in rural and peri-urban (outskirts) areas. Progress varies widely across the continent: northern Africa has near-universal access at about 98%, while central Africa lags far behind, with just 28% of its population connected.
Afrec warns that rapid population growth is eroding gains in several large countries, including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where new electricity connections are struggling to keep pace with rising demand.
The report is most critical of Africa’s performance on clean cooking, describing it as the weakest and most neglected component of SDG7.
By 2023, only 35% of Africans had access to clean cooking technologies, leaving more than 940-million people dependent on firewood, charcoal and kerosene. Kerosene is a clear, thin oil made from petroleum that is burned to create light in lamps, heat in stoves and aeroplane fuel.
The report notes that household air pollution linked to these fuels is responsible for nearly 500,000 premature deaths each year, with women and children most affected.
Progress has been slow, the report notes, with only a small increase in people gaining access to clean cooking since 2017. Afrec warns that without urgent policy action and much higher investment, more than 1-billion Africans could still be without clean cooking by 2030.
Renewable energy accounts for 69% of Africa’s total final energy consumption but the report cautions that this figure is misleading. The bulk of that share comes from traditional biomass, rather than modern renewable sources such as solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal energy.
“While countries such as Morocco, Namibia and Angola have expanded renewable capacity, progress across the continent remains uneven and insufficient to meet development and climate goals.”
At the heart of Africa’s SDG7 challenge is a significant financing gap. Afrec estimates the continent needs about $50bn (R790bn) a year to achieve universal electricity access by 2030, alongside $4bn annually for clean cooking. The report says existing investment levels fall well short of these targets.
While innovative financing models — including blended finance, concessional funding and pay-as-you-go solar — are expanding, the report notes that clean cooking continues to receive a disproportionately small share of total energy funding.
Without universal access to modern energy, the report warns, Africa’s broader development ambitions will remain out of reach, “undermining progress in poverty reduction, health, education and climate action”.
The report calls for accelerated deployment of decentralised energy systems, stronger political commitment to clean cooking, improved regional power integration and a sharp increase in public and private investment.
Africa still has the resources to change course, Afrec argues, but the window for action is narrowing. “Without faster and more co-ordinated efforts, millions of Africans risk remaining trapped in energy poverty well beyond 2030.”
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