THE Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) and the Rockefeller Foundation have introduced nearly two dozen new energy access projects in 11 African countries, the Africa energy summit yesterday.

Andrew Herscowitz, CEO of the Mission 300 Accelerator said at a briefing to delegates that the programme involves 23 projects in Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zambia.

There are other projects spread across the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the largest regional economic organization in Africa, he said.

The projects are funded through an initial $10m commitment by the two organizations to the Mission 300 technical assistance facility launched last September to provide more flexible, short- and medium-term technical assistance.

This collaboration is in support of the World Bank Group and African Development Bank’s ambitious initiative to provide improved electricity access to 300m Africans by 2030, he said.

“The Rockefeller Foundation created the Mission 300 Accelerator to demonstrate how philanthropy can break through bureaucratic obstacles to jumpstart World Bank and African Development Bank energy projects. In just a few short months, we have worked with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, Sustainable Energy for All and the banks to advance two dozen projects, putting us on track to bring reliable electricity to 300 million people across Africa at unprecedented speed,” the CEO explained.

"We are delighted to have made significant strides on a series of impactful projects that GEAPP and the Rockefeller Foundation are developing with strategic partners across Africa. The design and preparation of these initiatives is advancing an Africa-led mission that unlocks power where it is needed most,” he further noted.

Woochong Um, CEO at GEAPP, which has more than 50 percent of its current portfolio by value invested in Africa, said by improving local skills, capacity and implementation efforts, GEAPP supports African governments, institutional partners and businesses with new financial tools and bankable projects that boost cooperation and innovation and fuel sustainable growth for communities across the continent.

In addition to GEAPP’s support for the Accelerator’s new investments, the Alliance, which has 63 projects in more than 20 African countries, is already working intensively with the AfDB and World Bank to design and accelerate electrification efforts in several African markets, he stated.

Currently, Africa has an average electrification rate of 50 percent and is home to approximately 600 million without access to reliable electricity.

Co-housed within GEAPP and RF Catalytic Capital (RFCC), the Rockefeller Foundation’s public charity launched in 2020 to pool and align resources, the Accelerator is designed to swiftly deploy philanthropic capital for technical assistance across sub-Saharan Africa.