Global electricity access stalls as Africa’s progress slows
PARIS, October 9, 2025, ENN: Nearly 730 million people worldwide still lacked access to electricity in 2024, according to new data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), underscoring a slowdown in global electrification efforts since the pandemic. The figure represents a decline of only 11 million from 2023, well below the annual progress achieved before Covid-19.
The IEA said preliminary 2025 data suggest the sluggish pace will continue, with gains in some countries offset by setbacks elsewhere. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the centre of the crisis, accounting for eight out of ten people globally without electricity.
In many African nations, population growth continues to outpace new power connections. High debt levels following the pandemic and the global energy crisis, combined with cuts in international aid, have constrained investment in grid expansion and off-grid solutions. As a result, the total number of people without electricity has changed little since 2020.
Between 2020 and 2022, the number of people lacking access in sub-Saharan Africa actually rose, before beginning to decline again. The improvement has been driven mainly by a few countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Mozambique. In 2024, however, progress across the region remained below pre-pandemic levels, with 27 countries still falling short of their 2015–2019 averages.
‘The pace of electrification remains fragile,’ the IEA noted, adding that population dynamics and fiscal pressures continue to shape outcomes. Early 2025 estimates point to a modest rebound, helped by record imports of solar panels from China and new national electrification initiatives.
The challenges facing Southern Africa will be covered at the upcoming Zimbabwe–Zambia Energy Projects Summit, themed ‘Mines and Energy: How Stakeholders Have Fast-Tracked Private Sector Projects to Become Africa’s Top Investment Destination’.
The event will showcase how regional collaboration can accelerate access. It will gather senior officials from ministries, utilities, regulators, investors, and developers to chart new pathways for sustainable energy growth across southern Africa. For more, see https://energy-news-network.com/networking/zimbabwe-zambia-energy-projects-summit/. Photo by Eric Anada.
