Blog by the ACCESS Coalition Secretariat Team

The 2026 African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual Meetings in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, brought together African leaders, development partners and the private sector under the theme, Mobilizing Africa’s Development Finance at Scale in a Fragmented World. The discussions underscored an urgent reality: Africa must unlock greater domestic and international financing to drive sustainable and inclusive development.

For ACCESS Coalition, this is more than a financing conversation. It is about ensuring that the nearly 600 million Africans still without electricity-and the hundreds of millions relying on polluting cooking fuels-gain access to clean, affordable and reliable energy. Development finance should ultimately be measured not by the volume of resources mobilized, but by the lives transformed.

Financing Africa’s Energy Future

A key outcome of the meetings was renewed support for Mission 300, the joint AfDB and World Bank initiative to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030. While this commitment is encouraging, achieving universal energy access requires more than grid expansion. Investment must also accelerate decentralized renewable energy, mini-grids, stand-alone solar systems, productive use of energy, affordable consumer financing and clean cooking solutions. Energy access cannot be partial-electricity and clean cooking must advance together.

Clean Cooking Takes Centre Stage

The launch of a new Clean Cooking Programme under the Rome Process/Mattei Plan Financing Facility marked an important step towards scaling modern cooking solutions across Africa ahead of the Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Nairobi.

With nearly 900 million Africans still dependent on biomass for cooking, clean cooking must be recognized as essential infrastructure. Investing in clean cooking delivers multiple benefits, including improved health, climate action, forest conservation, women’s empowerment and stronger household resilience.

Financing Must Be Inclusive

The meetings also highlighted the need to mobilize greater private investment alongside public finance, including through stronger African financial institutions and domestic capital markets.

ACCESS Coalition believes financing should prioritize investments that reach underserved and last-mile communities, support locally led enterprises, empower women and youth, strengthen climate resilience and create decent green jobs. The quality of investment is just as important as its quantity.

Integrating Climate Finance and Energy Access

Climate finance and energy access should no longer be treated as separate agendas. Expanding renewable energy and clean cooking simultaneously advances climate mitigation, improves public health, supports climate-smart agriculture and strengthens economic resilience. Future financing models should maximize these interconnected development outcomes.

Strong Political Leadership Must Now Translate into Delivery

The Annual Meetings demonstrated strong political commitment to regional integration, infrastructure development and sustainable financing. The next step is implementation.

ACCESS Coalition will continue advocating for:

  • Universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy.
  • Clean cooking as a central pillar of Africa’s energy transition.
  • Increased investment in decentralized renewable energy.
  • Financing that reaches underserved and fragile communities.
  • Meaningful participation of civil society, women and youth in energy planning.
  • Greater accountability in delivering energy access commitments.

In summary, the Brazzaville meetings showed that Africa has the ambition to transform its energy future. The challenge now is ensuring that financing reaches the communities that need it most.

As the continent advances initiatives such as Mission 300 and prepares for the Africa Clean Cooking Summit and COP31, development finance must remain focused on people-not just projects. Success will be measured not by the billions pledged, but by the number of households gaining electricity, adopting clean cooking solutions and building more resilient, prosperous futures.

That is the future ACCESS Coalition will continue to champion.