Although Africa has enormous energy resources, more than half of the continent’s population do not have any access to electricity and generation is often unable to meet the demand of those who do.

Growth and poverty reduction will be constrained if this deficit continues. The purpose of this paper is to outline the nature of the opportunities and challenges for expanding the supply of electricity to meet development objectives, taking into account recent reductions in the costs of renewable energy.

The two challenges of expanding electricity generation and distribution for economic growth, and extending electricity supplies to those who do not yet have access, are inter-related but require different policies and interventions.