Burundi’s experience with the Mubuga solar power project demonstrates how government commitment, international partnerships and structured financing can bring new electricity capacity into an underserved market. Replicating such progress across Africa will require stronger institutions, bankable projects and investment connected to productive economic activity.
Africa’s electricity challenge is often described as a shortage of generating capacity. Yet the underlying problem is also one of investment. The continent possesses substantial energy resources, but too few financially viable projects, adequately developed electricity networks and sustainable financing arrangements to translate that potential into reliable power for households and businesses.
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The scale of the deficit is evident in the latest available figures.
According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2025 report, Financing Electricity Access in Africa, approximately 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, representing about 47 per cent of the region’s population, lacked access to electricity in 2024. Fewer than 19 million people gained access in both 2023 and 2024, compared with 23 million in 2019.
The financing gap is equally substantial. The IEA estimates that less than US$2.5 billion was committed annually for new electricity-access connections in sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, the latest year covered by its comprehensive financing assessment. Yet achieving universal electricity access by 2035 will require approximately US$150 billion in cumulative investment, equivalent to an average of US$15 billion annually.
The challenge, therefore, extends beyond attracting additional capital. African countries must establish the policy environment, commercial arrangements and investment structures that enable financing to reach projects capable of delivering dependable electricity and measurable economic returns.
Burundi offers a useful example of how this can be approached.
Mubuga: A Milestone in Burundi’s Energy Development
One of Burundi’s most notable developments in renewable energy is the Mubuga solar photovoltaic power plant in Gitega Province.
Developed through a public-private partnership involving the Government of Burundi and Gigawatt Global, the project became the country’s first grid-connected solar power development by an independent power producer when it entered commercial operation in 2021.
With an installed capacity of 8.67 megawatt-peak (MWp), the facility increased Burundi’s electricity generation capacity by approximately 10 per cent, according to the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), which supported the project’s development and financing.
This contribution is particularly significant in a country where electricity generation has historically depended heavily on hydropower. Variations in water availability have exposed the energy system to supply constraints, reinforcing the importance of diversifying generation sources and reducing dependence on imported diesel generation.
Mubuga’s significance, however, extends beyond the electricity it produces. The project demonstrated that a relatively small electricity market, often considered challenging for international investors, could attract private-sector participation when government cooperation, development finance and commercially structured partnerships were brought together.
REPP supported the project’s development from 2016, while construction financing and subordinated lending involved the Evolution II Fund, managed by Inspired Evolution Investment Management.
According to REPP, the plant is estimated to support the electricity needs of approximately 90,000 people and businesses through improvements in the local electricity supply. Construction generated approximately 190 temporary jobs, around half of which were held by women. The facility also provides eight permanent operational positions.
These figures should be considered against the scale of Burundi’s wider electricity needs. Mubuga is not a solution to nationwide electrification challenges, nor does its capacity eliminate structural constraints in electricity generation and distribution. Its importance lies in establishing a practical precedent for private investment in the country’s renewable energy sector.
The project also attracted significant government attention. In May 2023, President Évariste Ndayishimiye visited the facility and announced an intention to double generating capacity near the existing site. The announcement reflected the administration’s interest in building on the project’s experience and encouraging further international participation in Burundi’s energy development.
From Political Commitment to Bankable Investment
For African countries seeking international investment in their energy sectors, political support is important. However, investors also require credible institutions, predictable regulations and commercially sustainable arrangements.
Their assessments typically consider the reliability of power-purchase agreements, the financial position of electricity utilities, currency exposure, payment security, regulatory consistency and the ability of projects to generate predictable returns.
These considerations are particularly important in small, low-income economies, where limited consumer purchasing power and relatively small electricity markets can make infrastructure projects difficult to finance commercially.
Mubuga illustrates the value of combining public-sector commitment with specialist development finance. Rather than depending exclusively on government expenditure, the project brought together an independent power producer, public authorities and financing partners to deliver additional generation capacity.
The broader lesson for African policymakers is that development finance should do more than fill funding gaps. It should help prepare projects, absorb appropriate early-stage risks and establish the conditions under which private capital can participate.
Governments must complement these efforts through transparent procurement, predictable regulation, credible electricity purchasers and consistent policy implementation.
Without these foundations, even countries with considerable renewable energy potential will struggle to convert investor interest into operational infrastructure.
Connecting Electricity Investment to Enterprise Growth
Generating electricity is only one part of the development equation. Its wider economic value emerges when reliable power reaches businesses, farms, schools, hospitals and industrial facilities.
For Burundi, this connection is particularly important.
Agricultural processing, coffee and tea production, irrigation, cold storage, manufacturing and digital services all depend on affordable and dependable electricity. Improved access can reduce operating costs, limit post-harvest losses, extend production hours and strengthen the competitiveness of local enterprises.
The World Bank recognised this relationship in June 2024 when it announced a US$190 million financing package for the Accelerating Sustainable and Clean Energy Access Transformation (ASCENT) project in Burundi.
The programme is expected to benefit approximately 2.4 million people, 1,200 public institutions and 6,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and industries through new or improved electricity access.
Importantly, ASCENT goes beyond investment in generating capacity. Its activities include strengthening medium-voltage infrastructure, rehabilitating and modernising the Bujumbura distribution network, expanding electricity access in peri-urban and rural communities, and improving the overall performance of the electricity sector.
The programme also envisages private-sector participation through Weza Power, a newly established private utility supporting grid electrification in peri-urban and rural areas.
This approach reflects a broader understanding of the electricity challenge. Power plants must be supported by effective transmission and distribution infrastructure capable of delivering electricity to the households and businesses that need it.
For Burundi, the opportunity is to ensure that investments in generation, distribution and electricity access translate into improved productivity, enterprise development and employment.
Three Priorities for Africa’s Energy Investment Agenda
Burundi’s experience points to three priorities that deserve greater attention across the continent.
First, improve the investment environment. Governments must establish transparent regulatory frameworks, credible electricity-purchase arrangements and financially sustainable utilities. Investors need confidence that projects will be properly governed and contractual commitments honoured. Regulatory uncertainty and weak payment structures can undermine otherwise attractive infrastructure investments.
Second, use development finance to unlock private capital. Development finance institutions, climate funds and multilateral partners should provide project-preparation support, concessional lending, guarantees and appropriate risk-sharing mechanisms. These instruments can improve project viability in markets where commercial financing alone may be insufficient.
Third, connect energy infrastructure to productive economic activity. Electricity investment should be planned alongside agricultural value chains, industrial development, commercial services and local enterprise programmes. This creates demand, supports revenue sustainability and ensures that infrastructure delivers wider economic benefits.
These priorities are consistent with the IEA’s assessment that achieving universal electricity access by 2035 will require a six-fold increase in annual investment, supported by stronger regulatory environments, improved risk management and more effective deployment of concessional finance.
A Practical Lesson, Not a Finished Journey
Burundi’s experience should not be mistaken for evidence that its electricity challenge has been resolved. Significant work remains in expanding connections, improving reliability, strengthening distribution infrastructure and making electricity more affordable and accessible to households and businesses.
Nevertheless, Mubuga provides a tangible example of what can be achieved when government commitment is translated into a structured investment partnership.
The involvement of an independent power producer, international development financiers and public authorities demonstrated that private capital can contribute to renewable energy development even in relatively small and underserved markets.
The subsequent World Bank-supported ASCENT programme provides another dimension to this approach, combining infrastructure investment, electricity-access expansion and institutional improvements.
For President Évariste Ndayishimiye’s administration, the opportunity now lies in building on this foundation: attracting further investment, strengthening the institutions responsible for the power sector and ensuring that additional electricity capacity supports enterprise development and employment.
For Africa more broadly, the lesson is clear. The continent needs more than generating capacity. It requires investment-ready projects, credible public institutions, commercially sustainable utilities and electricity networks capable of supporting productive economies.
Success should be measured not only by installed megawatts but also by the number of businesses powered, jobs sustained, communities connected and industries made more competitive.
Mubuga remains modest in scale relative to Africa’s enormous electricity deficit. Its wider significance, however, is that it demonstrates how government cooperation, private-sector participation and structured development finance can create opportunities for energy investment in markets that might otherwise struggle to attract capital.
The next challenge is to replicate such partnerships, strengthen the institutions that support them and turn individual infrastructure projects into sustained programmes of investment and economic transformation.
