Adesina: Africa Needs Trillions in Investments to Unlock Vast Renewable Energy Potential and Achieve SDGs

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, outgoing President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has highlighted the paradox of Africa’s energy wealth and widespread energy poverty, noting that despite possessing some of the world’s largest renewable energy resources, over 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity.

Speaking at the 2025 Standard Chartered Bank Africa Summit held recently in Lagos, Adesina emphasized that bridging the continent’s massive energy gap requires substantial investment. In his presentation, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he outlined Africa’s renewable energy potential, which includes 11 terawatts of solar energy, 350 gigawatts of hydro, 150 gigawatts of wind, and 15 gigawatts of geothermal power.

He stated that fully harnessing these resources could power large-scale industrialization across Africa, boosting competitiveness and enabling value addition to its abundant agricultural products, minerals, and metals.

Adesina also mentioned Mission 300, a joint initiative by the AfDB and the World Bank aimed at connecting 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030. Achieving this goal, he said, will require a combination of public and private sector financing. For the first 12 countries under the initiative, Energy Compacts amount to $127 billion, with over $61 billion expected from private investors.

To attract the needed capital, Adesina called for the expansion of public-private partnerships and the creation of vehicles to develop bankable infrastructure project pipelines.

On achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, Adesina emphasized that Africa must make massive investments in infrastructure, energy, digital connectivity, transport, healthcare, education, water, sanitation, and human capital. He projected that the continent would require at least $1.3 trillion annually to meet these goals.

“This funding must be mobilized from diverse sources — domestic resource mobilization, capital markets, private sector investment, concessional finance, and foreign direct investment,” he said.

Dr. Adesina concluded by urging a shift in mindset from dependency on aid to a focus on investment, insisting that Africa has the assets and capacity needed to realize its ambitions.