Reimagining utility reform in a post-aid Africa: Key insights from the 2025 Utility Roundtable  

In May, Clean Air Task Force (CATF), in partnership with Arthur Energy Africa (AEA), hosted the fourth annual Utility Roundtable in Accra, Ghana. Themed, “Navigating a Shifting Global and Regional Landscape in a Post-Aid World,” the convening brought together senior utility officials, regulators, and policymakers from nine countries in West and East Africa—Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Togo, Kenya and Uganda. The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority, both key regional institutions, also participated.  

This annual roundtable serves as an important platform for power utilities in Africa to establish actionable plans to improve operational performance, build viable markets, deliver services more efficiently, and expand their clean energy portfolios. Over two days of discussion, roundtable participants engaged deeply with the realities of operating utilities in an increasingly complex financial and energy landscape. Four key themes that emerged from the roundtable: the urgent need for new financing approaches, the persistent structural challenges utilities face, strategies for successful renewable energy integration into existing grids, and the critical role of regional collaboration and private sector engagement in building resilient power systems across Africa.  

1. Financial headwinds remain steep, but untapped opportunities exist  

Sub-Saharan Africa, home to over 80% of the global population without electricity, lags behind other regions in access to modern energy services. Meanwhile, countries in the region continue to face ongoing financial challenges, with many already in or at significant risk of debt distress. According to the United Nations Global Crisis Response Group, the median total public debt as share of GDP has more than doubled in the past decade—from 30.6% in 2011 to 62.8% in 2022—forcing governments to dedicate a significant portion of their revenues to settling external debts.  

Further compounding this challenge is a decline in foreign aid. Major donors, including the United States, European Union, and the United Kingdom have scaled back development assistance to Africa. Meanwhile, despite representing 20% of the world’s population, Africa attracts merely 3% of global energy investments. And this investment is not evenly distributed: South Africa and North Africa, constituting less than 20% of the continent’s population, attract over 45% of all investments and have 65% of the continent’s total installed power capacity.  

Against this backdrop, the roundtable participants discussed strategies to mobilize new sources of capital and reduce dependency on traditional aid. These include engaging non-traditional partners, such as the Islamic Development Bank, tapping into domestic capital markets, and pursuing joint purchasing agreements to achieve greater economies of scale. Participants also emphasized the need to build internal capacity within utilities to strengthen their negotiating power and the structuring of financial deals.  

2. Tackling structural barriers is essential to improved utility performance  

Beyond financial constraints, utilities in Sub-Saharan Africa face significant structural issues including high levels of technical and commercial losses, non-cost reflective tariffs, and low demand. These challenges have significantly hampered utilities’ ability to deliver affordable electricity, maintain their systems, and recover the costs they expend in delivering services.  

To help utilities address the root causes of commercial losses, CATF and AEA partnered with utilities in Ghana and Sierra Leone to conduct detailed network analysis, aimed at understanding the scale and sources of these commercial losses in their distribution networks. These projects have underscored the need for utilities to adopt a comprehensive approach that integrates better energy accounting systems, smart metering, and staff training. Adopting these integrated approaches would strengthen revenue collection, identify high-loss areas, and enhance overall service delivery.  

In parallel, utilities must continue working with regulators to ensure established tariffs reflect the true cost of generating and distributing electricity, while maintaining affordability for customers.  

3. Utilities will continue grappling with how to best integrate renewables into fragile grids 

Sub-Saharan Africa holds significant untapped potential for renewable energy, yet renewable generation in the region remains low by global standards. That is beginning to shift, as many African countries, development agencies, and multilateral institutions, have announced plans to build more solar and wind resources. However, key questions remain: Can the existing grid infrastructure handle significant addition of renewables?  How can utilities ensure system reliability with added variability? And how will battery storage affect the cost and reliability of renewable-heavy systems?  

To explore these issues, CATF shared findings from its recent study on Kenya’s experience integrating renewables at scale. The study provided crucial insights for other countries considering a buildout of these power generation source.  

Key takeaways included: 

• Prioritizing pricing policies that avoid inadvertently raising costs for consumers.   

• Diversifying the energy portfolio by integrating flexible, dispatchable sources such as hydropower and gas, ensuring reliable support for intermittent renewable generation.  

• Planning proactively to ensure renewable expansion does not lead to oversupply, curtailment, and accompanying losses.   

• Building complementary services and balancing markets to ensure real-time system equilibrium and improve the overall economic efficiency.  

These lessons underscore the importance of strategic, system-wide planning when scaling renewables—particularly in regions with less resilient grid infrastructure.  

4. Regional integration and private sector participation are critical  

Ultimately, for utilities to deliver affordable and reliable electricity, stakeholders should prioritize modernization of transmission and distribution systems, invest in regional interconnection, and facilitate greater private sector participation. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, since 2000, over 340 private independent power projects, worth over $61 billion, across 36 African countries have either begun operations, are under construction, or have reached financial close. Yet this level of investment remains far below what is required.  

In his keynote speech, Wale Shonibare from the African Development Bank’s stressed that private sector intervention remains far below what is needed to achieve universal access. Moreover, despite the existence of regional power pools, the current level of cross-border interconnection remains insufficient.  

To fully tap into opportunities for cost savings, improved system resilience and economies of scale, utilities will have to coordinate in making investments in cross-border power trading systems which will require well-functioning transmission and distribution networks. 

Where utilities go from here 

The 2025 Utility Roundtable made one thing clear: Africa’s energy future cannot hinge on foreign aid alone. As development assistance declines and financial pressures intensify for countries on the African continent, local stakeholders, including utilities, will need to work to build the institutional capacity, financial resilience, and regional collaboration needed to deliver reliable, affordable, and clean electricity at scale.  

CATF remains committed to supporting power utilities and other local stakeholders in this transformation. This year’s roundtable served as a forum to generate practical solutions: from new financing strategies to improved loss reduction practices and renewable integration. The roundtable will continue to be a platform where African utilities can strengthen their voice, build stronger negotiating positions in global forums, and ultimately work together to deliver modern power systems their countries need for development.  

The road ahead will not be easy—but it is navigable. With the right partnerships, planning, and ambition, Africa’s power utilities can build a resilient and self-determined future.