Africa’s Continent-Wide Electricity Market Gets Real Boost as Key Committee Launched

The African Union (AU) has just taken a big step toward connecting the continent’s electricity markets.

On July 1, 2025, the AU set up a special oversight committee at its headquarters in Addis Ababa.

This committee will help push forward the African Single Electricity Market (AfSEM), a project that aims to link the power grids of all 55 African countries.

Right now, more than 600 million people in Africa do not have reliable electricity. The AU wants to change this by building the world’s largest connected electricity market by 2040.

The plan is to make electricity cheaper, more reliable, and cleaner for everyone, becoming the world’s largest continent-wide energy trading programme.

At the meeting, the AU’s top energy official, Kamugisha Kazaura, said the new committee will make sure the project stays on track.

He explained that AfSEM needs to work well with local energy plans and bigger AU projects, like the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Some big progress has already happened. In January 2025, Kenya and Tanzania finished a high-power transmission line.

This line now connects their electricity grids with Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Africa’s Continent-Wide Electricity Market Gets Real Boost as Key Committee Launched

The AU expects to link the Eastern and Southern African power pools by 2027. This will make it easier for countries to buy and sell electricity and help prevent blackouts.

Simbini Tichakunda from the AU’s development agency said that AfSEM is moving from just an idea to something real.

He pointed out that governments, banks, and private companies are starting to work together more closely.

The African Development Bank’s Mission 300 project, which aims to give 300 million more people electricity by 2030, supports AfSEM’s goals.

Still, there are challenges. Many investors worry about unstable policies and complicated rules in some countries.

The AU is working to fix this by making rules clearer and helping utilities become more reliable. They hope that by doing this, more private companies will invest in Africa’s electricity networks.

The AU will share more policy ideas with African leaders in October 2025. The goal is to make sure Africa’s energy future is more secure and that businesses and families get the power they need.

This project matters because it could help millions of people get electricity, make African businesses stronger, and support the continent’s growth.

The AU’s latest actions show they are serious about making Africa’s electricity market work for everyone.