The United Nations (UN) is uniquely positioned to provide critical support to Mission 300’s transformational potential to halve the number of people in Africa living without electricity access by 2030. The UN has a vast development system, expertise as well as global and regional presence that can be leveraged to provide the needed support to governments in line with achieving Mission 300 objectives.
To this end, the UN organized a Mission 300 High-Level Workshop on the sidelines of the UN Deputy Secretary General’s Annual Retreat with Resident Coordinators in May 2025 in Angola. The high-level workshop saw the UN Deputy Secretary-General, UN SRSG for SEforALL, UN Resident Coordinators, Mission 300 partners including the World Bank Group and African Development Bank Group representatives, exploring how the UN and especially the Resident Coordinator system can be utilized to support Mission 300, as well as commitment to enhanced collaboration between UN entities, development banks, governments, and private sector actors to ensure alignment.
During her remarks at the African Heads of State Energy Summit in January 2025, the UN Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) emphasised that international cooperation and multilateralism are key to achieving the region’s electrification goals, with the UN committed to working closely with partners like the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and national governments to ensure that Mission 300 advances both energy access and sustainable development.
Establishment of CDMUs within these countries is a key priority to kick-start compact implementation. The aim of these units will be to monitor progress on the reform commitments and ensure the compact countries remain on track with delivery. The CDMU development process will be country-driven given the context specific needs, and some of the countries already have structures in place that can be enhanced and leveraged. Internal guidelines for the development and resourcing of the CDMUs have been developed and are under review by the Banks.
By leveraging on the strengths of SEforALL, UN Resident Coordinators and Country Teams to support country level policy reforms, integrate stakeholder innovations, build institutional capacities and boost infrastructure investments.