ABIDJANE, 24 August. - (ANA) - Africa continues to face the world’s largest electricity access gap with a shortfall in investment “the central constraint,” the latest Africa Sustainable Development Report said. 

 

Access to electricity increased from approximately 46% in 2015 to about 53% in 2023, yet nearly 600 million people remain without power.

 

Urban electrification rates exceed 80%, the report found, while rural access remains below 40% in many countries. 

 

Annual investment in energy access on the continent is estimated at $4 billion, according to the report, which was jointly prepared by the African Development Bank, African Union Commission, UNDP, and Economic Commission for Africa. 

 

“Without a rapid scale-up of financing and regional energy integration, energy poverty risks becoming further entrenched,” wrote the authors.

 

This 2026 Africa Sustainable Development Report is released as African countries advance through the final phase of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development while continuing implementation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. 

 

This progress is taking place within a global environment characterized by persistent uncertainty, fragmented economic governance, and mounting climate, fiscal, and demographic pressures - all of which shape the pace and trajectory of development outcomes across the continent. 

 

The instability in the Middle East has amplified energy and food price volatility, disrupted trade routes, and heightened global uncertainty, with direct spillover effects on African economies. 

 

While recent years have required sustained responses to overlapping shocks, the central challenge now is to move beyond crisis management towards transformative, coordinated, and forward-looking action capable of sustaining development progress over the medium to long term. - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/24 August 2026 - - -