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[Off-screen voice]
Please welcome Bloomberg TV’s Chief Africa Correspondent, Jennifer Zabasajja.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you. How is everyone doing? Wow, this is a full room. This is so exciting. Good afternoon. I'm Jennifer Zabasajja, Chief Africa Correspondent for Bloomberg TV, based in Johannesburg. You can imagine how personal this is for me. But it is my honor to welcome you to Mission 300, Energizing Africa at the Bloomberg Global Forum. I think that deserves an applause, right?

[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Before we get started throughout the afternoon, I just want you to imagine this. By 2030, 300 million Africans, families, farmers, entrepreneurs gain reliable, affordable, sustainable energy. Sounds like something that many people here are privy to, but not everyone across the continent are. That is not just lights on. It is jobs ignited, small businesses thriving, and economies accelerating. Mission 300 is a partnership uniting African governments, the private sector, and global development allies to realize this vision. Now, at the top of today's event, we have heads of state and ministers that are planning to unveil new commitments to shape Africa's future, which is very exciting. We have Ajay here to speak even more about some of those commitments. Then, later in the afternoon, we'll dig deeper and hear from the leaders and investors unlocking continent-wide opportunities. But before that, I am pleased and very honored to welcome up to the stage Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group to deliver opening remarks. Please welcome him.

[Audience applause]

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[Ajay Banga]
Thank you and good morning, everybody. It's very rare that I get to speak before Michael Bloomberg. In fact, the reality is that a lot of what we are doing with the private sector to help enable things like M300 would not have happened without his personal interest and commitment. But for a minute, let me first thank everybody who works with him at the Bloomberg Forum. We thank all the heads of state and ministers and investors and philanthropies and all the operators who are here with us today. Mission 300 is very simple in its aim, and it's very serious in its execution. The idea is to connect 300 million people to reliable electricity, productive reliable electricity by 2030, because electricity is the first building block of jobs, of enterprise and dignity. Electricity is a human right, and we must do something about it. In January, 12 countries in Dar es Salaam announced their M300 compacts, strategic plans that align infrastructure, finance, and policy commitments to expand access and to crowd in private capital. Today, 17 more are going to present theirs. That brings us to 29 with a few more on the way. This room is actually the right place for such an occasion. Governments bring policy. They bring public investment. Investors and operators bring capital and delivery. Philanthropies bring risk-tolerant support. All three are required for this to work. Over the next 90 minutes, you will hear and you will see what countries have already done and how the private sector is responding to a reform movement that many have been waiting for. But what today is about is about momentum, it is about political courage and vision, and it's about concrete action. The investment opportunities that are now being created and the shift that comes from connecting people to electricity. Across Africa, governments are improving the business environment. The initial set of compacts identified more than 400 policy actions to strengthen utilities, clarify regulation, reduce losses, standardize concessions and accelerate approvals. Those are advancing, and you're going to add to them today when you hear from these 17 heads of state. Now, the progress is measurable. I think because of M300, 30 million people are already connected in our partnership with the African Development Bank and others. A pipeline to reach more than 100 million additional people is already moving through procurement, through financing, and through construction. You will hear that progress today. What's been completed, what's next, where partners can plug in, what the problems are, and why investing now is the right call. M300 is a platform. It's not an initiative. The lives changed by new connections matter. Equally important are the reforms, investments, and utility improvements that will endure. They will establish the business environment for Africa's future and set us on a path for a fully connected continent. That begins, as I said, with governments making meaningful changes and committing significant investment. The end result is that fundamental human right called electricity. It is jobs, it is the foundation for small businesses, for entrepreneurs, for companies to start, to hire, to flourish. That's what we are turning the page on today, commemorating as we turn the corner from design to implementation in these 17 countries. I want to end by thanking you, every leader, every partner here. But most importantly, like I said, I want to thank Mike and his team, because I don't think we would have started on the journey of understanding the importance of the role of the private sector in bringing adequate resources, ingenuity, innovation, and technology to the table. Mike, thank you very much for your leadership. Over to you, sir.

[Audience applause]

[Off-screen voice]
Please welcome founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies & Bloomberg L.P., Michael Bloomberg.

[Michael Bloomberg]
Well, thank you. Jennifer, thank you. Ajay, thank you. Dr. Tah, thank you for bringing us all together. Communications to the countries that announced new energy contracts, which will help connect. Congratulations to those who helped connect 300 million people in the region to electricity by 2030. Think about 300 million people that would fill this room many times over. A big thank you to the leadership of the African Development Bank and World Bank for making the compacts possible. Your commitments will help us power the future of Sub-Sahara Africa, which plays an increasingly large role in the global economy. Mission 300 is ambitious, and it's already changing lives. It's helping to reduce poverty, to advance clean energy, and to mobilize private capital. At Bloomberg Philanthropies, we have a long commitment to the region, and we're very optimistic about its future. We know there's an awful lot more work ahead to fulfill Mission 300, and that's what today is all about. I hope this is now a productive conversation, and let me pass it back to Jennifer. Jennifer, all yours.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much, Mike. Now, let's continue with the program. Mission 300, as we mentioned, has already seen considerable momentum in just a few months that it has been in effect. Forty-eight countries are on board. Twelve countries launched ground-breaking energy compacts one year ago. And today, very exciting news, the number of Mission 300 countries more than doubles, which I think is room for excitement.

[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Today, 17 countries are affirming their commitment to expanding energy access, and we'll see many of them endorse their Mission 300 energy compacts right here during this event. An energy compact, just to give you some context, is a commitment to make the key reforms and investments needed to unlock funding from the private sector, commitments that are backed up by the development partners and philanthropy, as we just heard from Mike and Ajay. These timebound pledges are data-driven and unique to each country. There are five key areas that energy compacts typically cover: policy and regulatory reform, grid modernization and expansion, renewable energy deployment, private sector mobilization, and regional integration and financing. Energy compacts, though, are not just words on a paper. They're blueprints for gigawatts of power and new investment. Without further ado, we have a number of leaders here that are here to affirm their commitment to Mission 300. Let's continue with the endorsement ceremony. But first, I want to call back up to the stage the World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga, and also, the African Development Bank President, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah to the stage, please.

[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you, again. Thank you so much. I will now be calling each head of state and minister to come to the stage individually to affirm their country's commitment to Mission 300 and this vision. We'll finish with a family photo of all the heads of states and ministers, along with the presidents of the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank. Without further ado, let us get started. First of all, from Ethiopia, His Excellency, Taye Atske Selassie, the President of Ethiopia.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama, the President of Ghana.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
His Excellency, Julius Maada Wonie Bio, the President of Sierra Leone.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
The Right Honorable Ntsokoane Samuel Matekane, the Prime Minister of Lesotho.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
His Excellency, Américo Ramos, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Her Excellency, Bogolo Kenewendo, Minister of Mineral and Energy from Botswana.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
His Excellency, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, Minister of Energy and Water Resources for Cameroon.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
The Minister of Energy and Water Resources, the Honorable Emile Ouosso from Congo.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
General Amara Camara, Secretary General to the Presidency of Guinea.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Her Excellency, Carla Louveira, Minister of Finance from Mozambique.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Finally, His Excellency Robert Koffi Messan Eklo, Minister of Mines and Energy Resources for Togo. Please join me in welcoming them all to the stage.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much.

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Oh, Burundi. We do have one more. My apologies, but from Burundi, we do have His Excellency Dr. Hassan Kibeya, the Minister of Mineral Resources from Burundi.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
I'd like to welcome all of our leaders on stage to join us in a family photo with Dr. Tah and Ajay Banga.

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Wow, look at this collective. This is very exciting. I think we want one more photo. Thank you so much to our esteemed guests for joining us on stage for affirming your commitment to Mission 300. Before we close out our session for this morning, I'd like to remind everyone in the room that in just a few minutes, we will reconvene right here in this space to continue the conversation around Mission 300 and how it is a true partnership. It's driven not just by governments, development organizations, and philanthropy, but also by the private sector. Just to close out, operators and investors are coming online and seizing new opportunities. As we can see here, even more countries and partners are joining in this collective. That will be our focus for the next 60 minutes. But for now, thank you so much for joining us today.

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[Off-screen voice]
Welcome. Please, take your seat. Our program will begin in 10 minutes.

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[Off-screen voice]
Welcome. Please, take your seat. Our program will begin in 5 minutes.

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[Off-screen voice]
Welcome. Our program is about to resume. Please take your seats and silence any cell phones or electronic equipment. Thank you.

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[Off-screen voice]
Welcome. Our program is about to resume. Please take your seats and silence any cell phones or electronic equipment. Thank you.

[Music]

[Video begins]

[Narrator]
Every day, people, businesses, and essential services throughout Africa are confronted with a lack of power. They must constantly adapt to overcome these challenges. The stark reality is that nearly 600 million people across the continent lack access to electricity.

[HOW CAN AFRICA POWER UP ITS FUTURE]
Electricity is a lifeline, driving economic opportunities, job creation, and enabling better education and health services. It's also vital for connectivity, greater innovation, and robust growth. It's the key to unlocking Africa's full potential. Without it, a more equitable, prosperous and competitive future remains out of reach. With advancements in technology and innovation, it is now possible to scale up electricity access, offering the potential to transform lives and economies across Africa. But this will require billions of dollars in investments to reach universal access by 2030. This challenge is an opportunity for transformative change, an opportunity to advance reforms, improve grid and off-grid access, and bring in private investments to accelerate progress. This is our moment to unite, to rally governments, businesses, development partners, and citizens. Together, let's power up Africa to make access to electricity a reality for everyone and to shape a brighter future for all.

[JOIN MISSION 300]

[A PARTNERSHIP TO SCALE UP ELECTRIFICATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA]

[#POWERINGAFRICA]

[Video ends]

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[Off-screen voice]
Please welcome Bloomberg TV’s Chief Africa Correspondent, Jennifer Zabasajja.

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
I'm still here. Hope everyone is doing okay. Well, thank you again for sticking with us and continuing to be passionate and committed to the Mission 300 initiative, the ambitious initiative that aims to deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity to 300 million people across Africa by 2030. Now, we did just have the endorsement ceremony, but now, over the next half hour, we'll hear from the leaders who are making a number of hard decisions to actually build business friendly environments, as we were seeing in that video, and from private sector leaders who are turning that promise into power and commitment, deploying mini grids, slashing costs, and igniting job growth across the continent. We have plenty of really wonderful people who are going to be joining me on stage in just a bit. But first, I want to welcome back up to the stage Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, President of the African Development Bank, to share opening remarks on the transformative power of partnerships. Dr. Tah?

[Music]

[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
He is here, he is coming. We should know, we were speaking to Dr. Tah earlier. He's only one month into this job, but is just as committed to it. So please, welcome Dr. Tah up to the stage.

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[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Hello again. Thank you.

[Sidi Ould Tah]
Good afternoon, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. It's my great pleasure to be with you today to address this August gathering on the occasion of the launching of the second phase of the compact for M300. As you know, earlier this year, in January 2025, in Dar es Salaam, 12 African countries signed their compact during the launching of Mission 300. Today, we witnessed the signing of 17 additional compacts for countries. I would like to thank our partners, and particularly my friend Ajay and all his team, but also all the partners, including Bloomberg, the Rockefeller Foundation and others who are really supporting this very important and transformative platform. It's not an initiative, it's a platform, as rightly mentioned by Ajay earlier today. The importance of M300, stems from the transformative nature of this platform, which for the first time set up high objectives for development partners, for government, for private sector and for other stakeholders to contribute to bridging the gap of access to energy in Africa. The name M300 comes from the number of households which will be connected to electricity by 2030 in Africa. Currently, we have almost 600 million people who do not have access to electricity in Africa. If we look back over the last decade, only 100 million, if I'm not mistaken, have been connected. Taking this objective to bridge the gap in a few years with the scale, with the speed, with collaborative approach is something new. This is why at African Development Bank Group, we are highly committed to speed, synergy, scale, and impact. As part of my four cardinal point for the African Development Bank, we will be working on scaling up the volume of financing, and M300 is an excellent opportunity for us because it is bringing for the first time a variety of partners, including private sector and philanthropists. The second cardinal point is about reforming financial architecture, and we will endeavor to bring all African DFIs and African pension fund, African sovereign wealth fund, to be part of M300. On the third cardinal point, which is about demography, this is critical for us because with the African demography, with the youth of Africa and the women of Africa, we need to provide them with income-generating activities. We need to help them to develop their businesses, and particularly, special focus on micro, small, and medium enterprises, but also on skill development to bring the adequacy between the need of the market and the output of the education system. On the fourth cardinal point, which is about resilient infrastructure and value addition, M300 is also critical because it will provide electricity not only to households and offices, but also, to the economic sector, to the productive sector, which will enable us to transform life and livelihood of African population. I would like to thank all our partners for their commitment to this mission, and we look forward to more compacts for more African countries. Thank you.

[Audience applause]

[Off-screen voice]
Please welcome back Bloomberg TV’s Chief Africa Correspondent, Jennifer Zabasajja.

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much, Dr. Tah. As Dr. Tah was just stating there, Mission 300 is a platform, not an initiative. Let's get into some of those high objectives that you were just speaking about and bring up some of the leaders in the countries that are actually putting M300 into action. I'd like to welcome up to the stage the Honorable Ghana Minister of Energy, John Abdulai Jinapor.

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[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you. Also, Her Excellency, Bogolo Kenewendo, Minister of Minerals and Energy of the Republic of Botswana.

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[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
And Her Excellency, Nialé Kaba, Minister of Economy, Planning, and Development for the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire.

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[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much. It's wonderful to speak now with you, leaders, about some of the actions that are being put into place with M300 in your countries. Maybe we start with you, Minister Jinapor, and you can talk about the perspective from Ghana, and why Ghana wanted to, as Dr. Tah was just saying, take this step to actually initiate and sign up to the compact.

[John Abdulai Jinapor]
Thank you very much. Let me thank the organizers and all of you. First of all, I think that Ghana's vision and our overall objective aligns with M300. What we're seeking to do is to achieve universal access to electricity. We are about 90% access rates. We set an ambitious target to achieve universal access by 2030. We are all looking at the same year. Clearly, we have a common vision. Where we've reached, we a lot of communities that are in what we call difficult to reach communities, island communities. We believe that off-grid solar projects or solar solutions will be a key future, and that is very prominent with Mission 300. We also believe that we should bring about efficiency, ensure that we reduce the cost of power. It is key, and also deliver affordable, reliable, and sustainable power to the people of Ghana. And so clearly, from what we are doing and from our own perspective, we've just established what we call a Renewable Energy Investment Fund, where we are pulling our own resources. But what we need is to leverage that with our international development partners so we can accelerate the pace of work. So clearly, this fits into our overall structure, our overall policy, and we look forward to collaborating with you and ensuring that we bring as many people as possible to have access to electricity in Ghana for accelerated economic development. Thank you.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much, Minister. Minister Kenewendo, can you speak about it from the perspective of Botswana, please?

[Bogolo Kenewendo]
Well, thank you very much. Good afternoon. Well, we are similarly working on this ambitious target of 2030 to get universal access. The main focus is being on the 7% that are in the hardest to reach, in areas where it's been termed as not commercially viable to pull the grid to or even to provide energy access. For those that don't know, Botswana is the size of Texas and larger than France, but only has about 2.5 million people. We're dealing with largely sparse populations, and some of the hardest to reach have between 800 to 1,000 people. You can imagine that to pull infrastructure to such kind of areas, it would be said it's not commercially and economically viable. But because we understand that energy is a human right, it is a need for advancement, it's how we unlock opportunity. We have to find ways of ensuring that we bring electricity to those areas. We have to think about different ways of doing so. DRE and using off-grid solutions, even though some of the off-grid solutions that have been proposed, they appear to be too bulky, too expensive. When you just think about the consumption rates, it still doesn't make sense. We have to revert to much smaller household solutions that can, at the very least, deal with issues of lighting and then progress to the issue of clean cooking. We would like to have clean cooking advancements to 90% by 2030. But in addition to just dealing with universal access, what is very key to us is accelerating generation. We are at the moment 90% based on thermal power and we want to have a 50/50 energy mix by 2030. Even at the beginning of this year, we put out a tender to us, renewable energy solutions, not just for Botswana, but for exporting into the Southern Africa power pool. We are really actively seeking investors that can come in targeting the domestic market, but also targeting the regional Southern Africa market because the demand in South Africa, in Zambia, and Congo, and many others in the region is very high. We have the right macros to support investment and projects of that kind. Then, we can use those to leverage the access to those in the hardest to reach since it's been argued that it's not commercially viable. But that is what is really key to us, that we work on generation, we work on universal access, we work on export, and then lastly, we ensure that it is affordable so we can build industry and improve lives.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much. Minister Kaba, I'd love for you to weigh in. Do you have similar ambitions to our two ministers here? Speak about it from the perspective of Côte d'Ivoire. Excuse me.

[Nialé Kaba]

[Speaking in French]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much, Minister. I'd love for the three of you to also speak to the competitiveness, because I think that is an important element to this. How does joining this compact potentially set you up or help support the competitiveness of your own industries individually? Because each of you has different resource-intensive industries. Minister?

[John Abdulai Jinapor]
We are already working with the World Bank to develop a framework for competitive tendering. We have already gone to parliament to pass a law that compels us to go for competitive tendering, because what we've realized is that normally unsolicited programs or offers are brought to us. They look very good, but in the long term, they tend to be very, very expensive. The World Bank is already helping us. We just tie into Mission 300, and then I'm sure that we are to achieve a lot. Our objective is to reduce our cost of generation by about 30%. We also have what we call a gas to power transition, where we are developing all our gas resources to feed our thermal plants. Then we have an ambitious project to achieve 30% of solar mix by the end of 2026. We are sure that we will do that because of our hydro potential. Clearly, we must learn also from each other. That is one thing that I think African countries are not doing. We share power with Côte d'Ivoire. When we have access, we export to Côte d'Ivoire. In times of our need, they also export to us. Through what we call our West African Power Pool, we are integrating the whole of West Africa so that we can share power. I think that one thing that I would advise that Mission 300 should focus on is bringing us together, even if it's based on regional blocks, so that if you take West Africa, we set a ceiling. To say that for West Africa, we believe that by providing X, Y, Z, power should not exceed, say, 4 cents. When we compete amongst ourselves, we can leverage our individual strengths and achieve something very positive. But I'm very confident, based on what we've been able to do so far with the World Bank, that this project or program would give us the impetus to achieve the least and most efficient cost power. Also, we are balancing our with our hydro. We have some hydro power. What we are doing is that we are not going for battery-back solar. We install the solar, we use the solar daytime, then in the night, we resort to the hydro. By that combination, we are achieving a lot of positive results. I'm very, very confident that we will make progress.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Minister Kenewendo, especially as a mining-rich country, can you speak to the competitiveness that this potentially opens up for you?

[Bogolo Kenewendo]
Yes. Well, at the moment, we are still one of the more affordable jurisdictions in terms of energy because of the subsidies. But as we know, subsidies are unsustainable, especially when our fiscus is being challenged. With these new projects, we are targeting to negotiate to more affordable rates, about 5 cents per kilowatt hour, in order to be able to really use renewable energy in mining and in some of our more energy-intensive productions. Now, mining at the moment, we're seeing even from our customers, they require that we have our minerals be carbon neutral. One way that we are pushing in that direction of neutrality is injecting renewable energies and providing renewable energy certificates to our mining companies to make them competitive and to work on that OPEX when we drop down the cost of electricity in Botswana. But over and above that, it's not just about our mining. We are really focused into the region. We want to use our credit rating, the benefits that we have because of our balance of payments, to be able to attract more capital, more investments in Botswana to serve the rest of the region, the mines that are coming up in Zimbabwe and Zambia are very key consumers for the power and the generation that we want to create in Botswana. But over and above that, other than the mines, we are looking at those energy-intensive industries, so data centers, back offices of AI companies. We want to be able to attract that by showing that we have stability of supply and we have affordability. This is very key. As President Boko has been really articulating, we are working on digital transformation of our economy, and that is highly energy-intensive. And affordability of electricity will be key. Having the right infrastructure for transmission and distribution is very key. We're looking for partners in that space, looking at AfDB and the work that we will do in that space. And Africa50 is very exciting, again, not for us alone, but for the entire region.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much, Minister. Minister Kaba, maybe you can close us off. What would you say is the convincing factor for investors to invest in a country like Ivory Coast, but in particular to deploy capital into Mission 300 into the Ivory Coast?

[Nialé Kaba]

[Speaking in French]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
That is a perfect way to end it. Minister Kaba, Minister Kenewendo, Minister Jinapor, thank you so much. Please join me in thanking them.

[Audience applause]

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Minister.

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[Jennifer Zabasajja]
We are continuing our program for the afternoon, continuing to build on some of these opportunities that Minister Kaba was just speaking to there. But first, I actually wanted to welcome up to the stage… Wow, we're getting excited here. I'd like to welcome up to the stage…

[Pause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
I'd like to welcome up to the stage, a private sector pioneer who is one of those individuals who is investing and has been investing for quite some time in Africa's energy of future. That's Jacqueline Novogratz. She is the founder and CEO of Acumen, a nonprofit that has invested over $150 million in social enterprises across Africa and beyond. I promise you do want to listen to Jacqueline's conversation here. Recognized as one of foreign policy's top 100 global thinkers and Forbes' 100 Greatest Living Business Minds. She's a champion of dignity through impact investing. Today, she will share more with us about how private sector innovation is fuel Mission 300's energy revolution. Jacqueline, thank you so much for joining us.

[Audience applause]

[Jacqueline Novogratz]
Thank you so much, Jennifer. I am so proud as the CEO of Acumen to be announcing our $250 million Hardest to Reach Fund that has been created and was closed yesterday in partnership with M300. Its mission is to bring 70 million low-income Africans across 16 of the most challenging markets in Africa, off-grid, solar, light, and electricity. This is really a story of three things that are so critical to our world today. It starts with leadership, then it goes to capital, and then it goes to community. We've been investing in off-grid solar since 2007, when there was no market, pretty much anywhere for low-income families. Over the last few years, I would say there was some struggle. But when Ajay Banga, and then the African Development Bank, and others made a commitment a few years ago to reach 300 million people with off-grid solar, the world changed. You started to see government, civil society, private sector all make commitments and all start getting to work. It is no coincidence that over the last couple of years, we've seen a tripling of imports of solar panels into Africa. Leadership matters. The second is capital. What's important, and what we have learned over the last 17 years, is that we are not talking about any kind of capital. We need the right kind of capital. I so appreciate motivated the minister of Botswana, that when you are looking at the hardest to reach last-mile communities, neither will aid alone nor markets alone reach, at least not now. The hardest to reach is structured with philanthropy, with first loss capital, and with concessionary up to commercial capital on top of that. $60 million of philanthropy has enabled us to make equity investments, loans, and grants into countries like Sierra Leone and Malawi with a 16% electrification rate. A few months ago, we made our first loan into Somalia, building markets that are either nascent or just getting going is needed from that philanthropic-back long-term patient capital. Side by Side is a $190 million concessionary debt facility. It's anchored with first loss capital from the Green Climate Fund, which has allowed us to bring in a number of other partners, including the World Bank and the IFC, BII, the Nordic Development Fund, and NORAD, and other institutions, including at the top, Shinhan Bank, Korea's largest commercial bank. Twenty-three stakeholders have come together to do this work, and that brings me to the third, community. This work is going to take all of us, not just the right kind of capital, but our skills, our tools, grant support for technical assistance to actually build the systems within these new companies as they provide off-grid solar to low-income people. What we've seen is that so often our financial institutions get stuck with the risk of doing the difficult. But what we have to keep asking ourselves is what is the risk of not doing it? What the risk of not doing it is rising emissions, it's rising instability, it's rising migration. What's been so thrilling in seeing this community of 23 stakeholders create the right kind of capital, each of them bringing leadership is not only are we getting started, but we can see the path. I just leave you with this notion that 17 years in, it is so clear that the world has the skills and the technologies and the entrepreneurs to do this work. What's needed is the moral imagination and the will. It starts with leadership. We couldn't be prouder to be partnering with M300 and all of the partners in this room who are doing the work you are doing. The world needs this more than ever. So thank you.

[Audience applause]

[Off-screen voice]
Please welcome back Bloomberg TV’s Chief Africa Correspondent, Jennifer Zabasajja.

[Music]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much, Jacqueline, for those powerful words and for the work that you are doing. As we've been hearing over the past hour or so, we do know that Mission 300 is already changing the calculus for businesses, for private investment, and also for development institutions. Now we get to dig into more of the business perspective and private sector investment, and we'll dig into that with a few of the leaders coming on to the stage just now. But I do want to first take a minute and acknowledge that the Republic of Gambia is also one of the countries that are committing to an energy compact today. We have the Honorable Minister, Keita, here today. Please give him a round of applause.

[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much, Minister. Thank you so much for being here with us. Now, let's talk about the private sector investment a bit more, and please join me. I'm having you do a lot of work today. I'm sorry. Welcoming to the stage three business leaders. We have Manoj Sinha, CEO and co-founder of Husk Power Systems.

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[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Hi, Manoj. Thanks for joining us. We have Terje Pilskog, CEO of Scatec.

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[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much. And finally, Edu Okeke, Managing Director of Azura Power West Africa.

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[Audience applause]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much for joining us. Now we get to dig into more of the private sector participation, which obviously you three have very much experience doing so. Maybe you can just start first and give us a sense from the vantage point that you sit at. When we think about M300, the potential and the opportunity for the continent, what do you see, and maybe you can speak from your own businesses, what do you see as being the most transformative? Maybe in the near term first, and then we can get to the long term. Manoj.

[Manoj Sinha]
Thank you very much. Mission 300 has created these energy compacts for many countries. We are particularly present in Nigeria that has actually reduced the risk of entering a country for electrifying hundreds of millions of people. We are in Nigeria, the largest market of unelectrified people, almost 200 million people with 90 million not electrified. Mission 300 has really created an energy policy that is very predictable and easy to see what risk you are going to get exposed to or not. That is further assisted by the likes of AfDB and other partners that are unlocking local currency that is absolutely needed to scale to electrify the next 100 million people in Nigeria market, to be more specific. And third is other agencies where you might take two years to do a project is now happening in less than three to six months. For example, we recently got 30-megawatt worth of projects sanction in less than three months of work. Mission 300 is really accelerating the process of electrifying hundreds of millions of people across sub-Saharan Africa. I'm so excited that 29 countries have signed up the compact. Our ambition used to be 100 megawatt of renewables in Nigeria market, that we have just increased our ambition to a gigawatt in the whole sub-Saharan Africa because of the energy compact, because of the acceleration that Mission 300 is providing. All we need right now is a lot of capital, billions of dollars to invest in Africa so that we can deliver on one gigawatt promise and in that process, create a lot of jobs.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Was that a hint there? I know you're doing a hint. Terje, speak about it from your perspective, if you can.

[Terje Pilskog]
Yes, thank you very much. Scatec is a company that is focused and devoted to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy, mainly through larger scale utilities and larger scale projects. Our mission is improving our future. In Africa, currently today, we have about three gigawatts already installed, and we have a couple more gigawatts under development and ready to be constructed. And this is about improving the future in terms of the climate, but it's also about improving the future in terms of providing affordable, sustainable, and secure electricity in the countries where we operate. But it's also about working closely together with the countries and with the communities, enabling economic development, enabling employment, and in general, enabling development in the communities where we work. We are extremely passionate about Mission 300 because, first of all, it creates a lot of attention and urgency around the matter. This is a significant thing in itself. When you have the World Bank, you have AfDB, you have Rockefeller Foundation, and all three are putting this on top of the agenda, then obviously that creates a lot of activity around the topic. Then, it is the clarity around the energy compacts that the countries are putting in place. Today, we are, for instance, working in Botswana, in Cameroon, in Guinea, in São Tomé and Principe, in Sierra Leone, and all of those countries today sign the energy compact. So that gives us a roadmap, a clarity in terms of what we're trying to do, and that's incredibly helpful for us. And then I think, finally, the things that are being put in place, they will mobilize private capital. They will mobilize capital in general in terms of supporting the initiatives here. Those are some of the things from our side that are exciting.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much. Edu?

[Edu Okeke]
Yes, thank you very much. For us at Azura, we've looked at the energy space and I like what they are doing. But for us, we want to focus more… If I think of what Ajay Banga said in terms of the productive also, which is power on the grid, it is not just off-grid power. We understand there are some areas that are hard to serve, where off-grid is really going to serve. But what you see in Africa, and when you think of Nigeria, which is our core country, is that many people who are connected to the grid are underserved. It's also how do we get to improve service to those people. When we think of the energy compact, for us, we currently operate about 752 megawatts across three countries, Nigeria, Senegal, and Mozambique. We have about 1,300 under development. When you look at what the energy compact has done in these countries, it is simply that government, they've looked and said: How do we distinguish between off-grid and on-grid? What are the reforms that need to be carried out? So that we know what to focus on. Quite unlike before, this kind of model in terms of put money here, put money there. But now, like Nigeria’s energy compact, we know what needs to be done on the grid side. Government is focused on it, which investment needs to go into it. For example, the

[unintelligible]
space in Nigeria, they've understood the power on the grid that there needs to be investment in the

[unintelligible]
space. There needs to be investment in the transmission and be not to talk of the generation that needs to come with it. That's why we are now engaging with government. We do generate power today, but how do we also help them to make sure that the

[unintelligible]
space if investment goes in there, the people that are on the south... Because I will say this, it should be on head of to start thinking of a solar home system for somebody living in Lagos. Lagos should be on the grid. How do we make sure that every inhabitant of Lagos gets out? That's what we're focused on right now.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Where do you see the challenges in terms of overcoming some of the barriers that you've had in the past and ensuring success in the implementation of the off-grid and on-grid?

[Edu Okeke]
I'll take Nigeria as an example again. When you think of Nigeria, over the years, there are three addictions, I think. I'm going to use that word, that Nigerians have. One is on the cost, foreign exchange, cheap foreign exchange. Then the next one is cheap gasoline price, and then cheap energy, when you think of electricity. The government has effectively tackled the first two. Then, I'm focused on the third one. Because just like the minister for Botswana said here, no private sector investor is going to invest based on subsidies. Tariffs must be cost-reflective, and that's what needs to happen. That tariff being cost-reflective, we now invite investors into the sector. Yes, of course, we know that AfDB has supported a lot, they are doing quite a lot, but ultimately, it's about making the market viable, making it to be... That's what the government right now, that's what this compact, what the government has focused on. How do we get tariffs to be cost-reflective? That's the only thing that will now motivate private sector investment. We are talking to them and we've seen that they respond towards that. We are basically engaged and expecting that when everything aligns, that that investment is going to be unlocked.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
I saw you nodding there, Manoj. Do you agree with that? Speak about it from the perspective of a few different markets.

[Manoj Sinha]
We are rightly present in Nigeria, so I will have to speak about Nigeria. That's where we have the most experience. The challenge is for us, people that are deploying decentralized energy resources assets, which in our opinion is the most capital-efficient way to bring electricity that doesn't only provide lighting, but really unlocks the economic prosperity. And go back three years ago, yes, we had some subsidy program. We had a process at Raya, Nigeria, that would do one clearance at a time. Things have rapidly evolved over the last two years. So the first thing is the energy demand for these rural customers are not to be taken for granted. It has to be pushed through productive appliances and productive uses of electricity. AfDB and other partners came together to make it happen. It's a proactive measure to make it happen. The policy, which was not really present before, there is a future of energy that Nigeria drives that brings both grid electricity and isolated grid electricity, and there is a future where both of them can combine together or interact with each other. There's no risk of deploying off-grid assets that will become defunct 10 years later. Nigeria is a top-notch example of having thought about future of energy and actually implemented it. Last but not the least, opening up local currency debt market. It is absolutely essential in the infrastructure segment to have low cost, long-term local currency debt available. Nigeria has made it possible thanks to AfDB and other partners that are creating first loss guarantee and things of that nature to make it happen. So again, I would reemphasize it’s only scale at speed that we are waiting for. And a capital of absolutely will help that process do it much faster than what we envisioned only two years ago.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thanks so much. But it inevitably looks different depending on which market you're talking about. How do we ensure... Are there things, though, potentially that are replicable within... Consistent throughout each market? What would you say?

[Terje Pilskog]
Initially, you talked about challenges, and I think we are facing many of the same challenges across markets. It's about subsidies, the fact that the energy and the power sector today is very much subsidized. That's obviously creating challenges in the domestic economies. It is fixed risk. It is the fact that we have also weak counterparts in many of these markets. I think all of these things need to be addressed. But for me, I'm thinking about where we are today as we are trying to bridge a process to get to a situation where we get into a much more robust situation. There are two things that are going to take us there. I think one thing that we all experience across our companies is that there is a revolution in terms of renewable energy technology, and we can now start providing renewable energy electricity at costs that are affordable in all African countries. I think that's one element, and I think it's important to have private capital, private players involved in all of these processes so that we can make sure that we bring the best technologies into these countries and make sure that we bring affordable and competitive solutions. Then in terms of Mission 300 and the collaboration with institutions like the World Bank and AfDB and so on, it is important that we find solutions where we have efficient procurement processes and that we have support that is helping us to bridge that gap from a situation today where the power sectors in Africa are underfunded and subsidized and then using a bridge over to get into a situation where we have a combination, a power mix in the countries that do not need subsidizations in the future. That's the bridge, that's the journey that I think that we are on. Everything that we do in this context should be the target of getting to an objective where we no longer need subsidization in the power sectors in Africa so that we are having self-funded, cost-reflective tariffs and the power sectors are sustainable. That, I think, is the goal. Mission 300 is an important vehicle in terms of bringing us through that journey.

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Edu, I want to give you the last words. Terje was just saying this is a revolution. You characterize this potentially as a revolution. I wonder how you would characterize this current moment and potentially again, an opportunity for the African energy market and those potentially looking to invest, entrepreneurs looking to also create. How would you characterize this moment?

[Edu Okeke]
I would say the opportunity is huge. What a compact has done for so many African countries, today you've seen 17 countries also come to their own. What is done is that it's refocused minds on what needs to be achieved and the time frame for that. In the next five years or so, 300 million people will be connected. As an entrepreneur, as an investor, it's now for you to go to any country where you are interested. You look at their compact, you look at their promises, and you now say, Where do I fit in here? There are opportunities all over the space, and government alone cannot do it. The fund needed for that is enormous. World Bank will help, AfDB will help, but ultimately, this is to incentivize the private sector to come in. That's what I see. That's what all of us see. All of us are now going through the compacts of each country and saying, Where do we fit in and where do we invest in that space?

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
It's really an inspirational and historic moment, I think we can say. Please, everyone, join me in thanking our panelists, Manoj, Terje and Edu.

[Audience applause]

[Music]

[Jennifer Zabasajja]
Thank you so much. Wow, well, hopefully you feel just as inspired as I do from the past few minutes, and I think hour or so, that we've had this afternoon and just capping it off with our private sector leaders there that are needed to hit the 300 million mark as we were talking about earlier with Ajay Banga. Well, that concludes our afternoon. Hopefully, it was electrifying for you from start to finish. I know it was for me. Africa's jobs challenge is not just an energy challenge, and Mission 300 is an example of that, and hopefully a multiplier, as we can only hope. We did see the endorsement of the energy compacts from a number of ministers and heads of states there. We heard how Mission 300 is catalyzing private sector investment, unlocking real opportunities. We also heard from the African Development Bank, the World Bank, Mike Bloomberg, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and of course, Bloomberg L.P. We thank you so much for being with us for the past afternoon. Hopefully, you feel inspired, and you will go and share more information about what Mission 300 is doing, and also how we can all play a part in energizing Africa. This is the end from me. I'm Jennifer Zabasajja. Thanks so much from myself and from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum. Thanks.

[Audience applause]

[Music]