TANZANIA is set to host an energy conference that aims to raise $190bn to provide electricity to over 300m people across Africa by 2030.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa aired this expectation at the United Nations headquarters on Monday, addressing an energy access meeting for Africa, organized by the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP).

He said that this initiative aligns with the government’s strategy of rapidly expanding electricity access to rural and remote areas, attracting the attention of institutions such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

These organizations have decided to hold the major conference in January 2025, impressed with the performance in Tanzania’s energy sector, where the government's strategy is to bring electricity to rural areas, not just to the villages but to every household.

“They have decided to convene a major conference in Africa, bringing together various stakeholders, international institutions and loan-providing institutions for entrepreneurs and companies to invest in electricity,” he elaborated.

The conference, to be jointly organized by the World Bank, AfDB and the African Union Commission, is expected to bring together global leaders, industry experts and civil society organizations to explore ways to ensure access to reliable energy, innovative clean energy technologies, tied up with sustainable policies, he specified.

“I commend the government of Norway and the Rockefeller Foundation for supporting the efforts of the World Bank and AfDB in ensuring electricity reaches 300 million people by 2030,” he stated, underlining that this plan is particularly important for Sub-Saharan Africa,

More than 600 million people lack access to electricity, precluding sustainable development if the situation is not addressed urgently, he said, hailing the World Bank and AfDB for working with the government in its rural areas electricity rollout plan by 2030, to every household.

AfDB President Dr Akinwumi Adesina highlighted that 900 million women suffer from a lack of clean cooking energy each year, demanding that cooking should be a dignified activity.

Each year, 130 million women need to be reached with clean cooking energy service as the continent is losing many women and children due to inappropriate cooking energy, he said

Dr Adesina praised President Samia Suluhu Hassan for strong leadership in the energy sector, particularly in promoting clean cooking energy, underlining that the AfDB has a strong desire to see the shift from using wood and charcoal to clean energy completed by 2030.

The premier, sitting in for President Samia, was accompanied by Ambassador Thabit Kombo, the Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation minister, Planning and Investment state minister Prof. Kitila Mkumbo, the Zanzibar Health minister Nassor Ahmed Mazrui, and various top government officials.