2025 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank : Africa on the Bbink of an energy and economic transformation
The Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) will be held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, from May 26 to 30. The theme for this edition, "Leveraging Africa's Capital to Drive Development," resonates as an invitation to fully exploit the continent's endogenous resources to accelerate its economic transformation. This strategic gathering will provide an opportunity to review the initiatives shaping Africa's future, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors, which remain central to the Bank Group's priorities.
The theme of the 2025 Annual Meetings continues the AfDB’s commitment to energy, a key sector for Africa’s development. In 2016, Akinwumi Adesina, the Bank’s President, made a strong call: « Africa is simply tired of being in the dark… We must get Africa out of the darkness, period. » This call remains more relevant than ever. Today, 600 million people in Africa still lack access to electricity, and nearly one billion have no access to clean cooking. The Bank has committed to investing $12.74 billion to improve energy access in Africa, an investment aimed at connecting 25 million people to electricity by 2024.
Initiatives such as the « New Deal for Energy in Africa » aim to achieve universal electricity access by 2030. These projects, which include financing distribution lines and solar power plants, illustrate Africa’s immense potential to free itself from external energy dependence. The Bank has already made notable progress, with 39,821 kilometers of distribution lines financed and 1,019 MW produced in 2024, thus connecting over 448,000 people to electricity.
Africa’s future is in renewable energy
The « Desert to Power » initiative, which aims to harness the solar potential of the Sahel to produce 10 gigawatts of photovoltaic energy by 2030, is another emblematic example of this desire to transform Africa’s natural resources into economic capital. According to Adesina, « Africa’s future is in renewable energy, » a field where the Bank continues to play a central role.
Mission 300: Connecting 300 million people to electricity by 2030
One of the major initiatives to be highlighted at the 2025 Annual Meetings is the ambitious Mission 300 program, launched in January 2025 in collaboration with the World Bank. This program aims to connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030, with 50 million of those connections to be made through the AfDB. At the African Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, the World Bank and the African Development Bank formalized this joint commitment, emphasizing the importance of national reforms and increasing resources dedicated to the energy sector.
This initiative fits within a context of strengthened collaboration between public and private sector actors. Thus, the AfDB supports projects like the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), which funds renewable energy projects and facilitates access to clean cooking. Indeed, more than 600,000 people die each year in Africa due to the lack of access to clean cooking solutions, a challenge that the AfDB aims to address through targeted investments and innovative partnerships.
Infrastructure: A pillar of Africa’s integrated development
While energy is a key sector, infrastructure, particularly regional corridors, constitutes another strategic axis of the 2025 Annual Meetings. These transnational infrastructures, such as the Trans-Saharan Road or the Abidjan-Lagos highway, are important levers for stimulating the continent’s economic integration. Akinwumi Adesina reminds us that, « It is only through regional corridors that we can easily move goods and services across the continent, reduce transportation costs, promote integration, and achieve efficient economic development. »
The AfDB has invested over $50 billion in infrastructure projects over the past decade, making it the largest multilateral lender in this area. Iconic projects, such as the Trans-Saharan Road, which will link the Maghreb to the Sahel, and the Abidjan-Lagos coastal highway, which is under development, are helping to open up local economies and facilitate access to markets for the continent’s natural and agricultural resources.
The African Development Bank positioned as a key player in Africa’s economic transformation
The African Development Bank Group thus positions itself as a key player in Africa’s economic transformation. Through initiatives like Mission 300, Desert to Power, and SEFA, the AfDB is supporting African countries in harnessing their natural resources and implementing sustainable energy policies.
The 2025 Annual Meetings in Abidjan will be a pivotal moment to reaffirm the Bank Group’s commitment to Africa, also providing an opportunity for Adesina to review his accomplishments before stepping down to make way for his successor, who will be elected during these meetings.
