Africa Needs Continental Energy Policy Framework: Experts

African experts and policy makers have joined voices in calling for a continental energy security policy framework they argue is necessary for the continent’s industrialization ambitions.

The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) convened at the end of last month a high-level meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, for a draft review of the draft security policy framework, which its authors hope will be a key step in providing Africans with accessible, affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy.

An ECA press release quoted Robert Lisinge, director of the Technology, Innovation, Connectivity, and Infrastructure Development Division, as having said that the development of a robust energy security strategy was important for Africa’s industrial future.

“The need for a national energy security strategy has been decades in the making and is considered the backbone of Africa’s next level industrialization,” said Lisinge. “But to get there, we need to lay the groundwork with national energy security strategies to address energy insecurities and resultant impacts. The organizations reviewing the draft framework drafted by the ECA are charged with charting the way ahead and developing the overall scope and content of the framework.”

The meeting, held ahead of the 2025 Nuclear Energy Innovation Summit for Africa, examined challenges of supply and high cost of electricity, persistent access gaps, disruptions, inadequate energy infrastructure, financial constraints and geopolitics, according to the release.

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Experts also explored regional energy integration and cooperation to ensure energy security and further reviewed the roles of institutional and regulatory frameworks, finance, emerging technologies and innovation, regional interconnections and market integration, and alignment with continental goals such as the Single African Electricity Market, the AfCFTA and Agenda 2063.

In setting the scene, Lisinge, highlighted the importance of the African energy security policy framework and its links to economic development and environmental sustainability.

“Energy is vital for regional integration and economic development. To successfully implement the proposed common energy policies and strategies, African countries need to prioritize the mobilization of domestic and private sector resources, which are essential for achieving energy independence and resilience,” he said.

Andrew Mold, director of ECA’s Office for Eastern Africa, underlined the significance of affordable electricity for sustainable development.

“The high electricity cost in Africa is mainly hindering economic competitiveness. ECA’s work on the regional energy security framework for Eastern Africa is a foundation for Eastern Africa toward a more secure energy future for the region, and the continental framework will further advance supply of reliable energy to advance economic transformation,” said Mold.

On his part, Peter Kinuthia, senior energy expert at AUDA-NEPAD, emphasized that “the proposed continental energy security policy framework helps to develop a common vision that transforms Africa’s energy landscape towards enhanced energy security to strengthen the foundation for an accelerated sustainable economic development.”

“We aim to have the framework tabled at the upcoming meeting of the AUC Special Technical Committee in Addis Ababa in September 2025. Stakeholders of this agenda have high expectations that it will be adopted following its consideration by the Energy Sub-Committee of the African Union in the first quarter of 2026,” said Lisinge.

A broad spectrum of regional experts attended the meeting, including representatives of Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA), and the African Forum for Utility Regulators (AFUR) and Central, Western, Eastern and Southern regional power pools, the East African Community, the East African Regulators Association as well as heads of Power Pools and APUA.