Tanzania Hosts Pioneering African Energy Summit with 25 Heads of State

Tanzania has officially launched the African Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, attended by 25 African heads of state and representatives from 21 countries along with 6 international organizations. The summit, which began today, Tuesday, is aimed at addressing the energy sector challenges across the continent.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan warmly welcomed the leaders, highlighting the summit's pivotal role under the theme "Mission 300" as a platform to solidify commitments and announce new partnerships. These initiatives are aimed at achieving universal electrical connectivity in Africa by 2030.

President Hassan expressed pride in hosting the summit, emphasizing its potential to rally international support to bring power to nearly 300 million Africans by the target year.

In her opening remarks, she stated, "This summit represents a historic moment in our collective efforts to accelerate energy access across Africa and take bold actions to power our continent for the future."

She noted that Tanzania is hosting the summit amidst significant progress in the country’s electricity access efforts. According to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), approximately 46% of Tanzanian households had electricity by 2022, a substantial increase from 32.8% between 2015 and 2016, thanks to various government initiatives.

With the upcoming inauguration of the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station, expected to generate 2,115 megawatts of electricity, along with other initiatives to improve electrical connectivity, Tanzania is on track to meet its national and international energy goals.

International partners have pledged over $6 billion in funding to support the energy agenda and extend electricity across Africa. The summit has already seen participation from leaders of major financial institutions like the World Bank, African Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and the OPEC Fund, among others.

The summit is expected to conclude with the signing of national energy agreements by 13 African countries and a joint declaration on "Mission 300" by the state heads.