Addis Ababa, July 1, 2025 (FMC) – The African Single Electricity Market (AfSEM), a landmark initiative to interconnect all 55 African Union (AU) member states through a unified, reliable, and affordable power grid, is gaining significant traction, according to AU officials.
This progress was highlighted during a High-Level Technical Meeting on AfSEM and the African Continental Power System Master Plan (CMP), held on June 30 at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa.
Addressing participants, Kamugisha Kazaura, Director for Infrastructure and Energy at the AU Commission, stated that the institutional and operational groundwork for a fully integrated continental electricity market has been successfully established. He underscored that AfSEM aims to deliver clean, dependable, and cost-effective energy across Africa.
“Activities are progressing well toward defining a common pathway to close technical and regulatory gaps, while exploring strategies for renewable energy deployment, cross-border power trading, and local manufacturing,” Kazaura said.
He emphasized the urgent need for coordinated action to meet Africa’s rising energy demand, noting that over 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity. Full implementation of AfSEM, he argued, is essential to closing this gap and supporting the continent’s sustainable development.
Simbini Tichakunda, Principal Program Officer at the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), described the continent as standing on the threshold of an energy revolution, as per ENA. “The dream of AfSEM is coming to life,” he said, pointing to recent milestones such as the commissioning of a 400-kilovolt power transmission link between Kenya and Tanzania, which has now synchronized the power grids of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Tichakunda also announced that by 2027, the Eastern and Southern African Power Pools are expected to be interconnected—an important milestone toward full continental integration.
The two-day technical meeting aims to align strategic, technical, regulatory, and financial frameworks necessary to operationalize AfSEM and the CMP. It also seeks to mobilize political support, harmonize policies, attract investment, and update AU member states on implementation progress.
Key stakeholders from governments, regional power pools, and international partners are participating in the discussions to help define actionable roadmaps for achieving the AU’s energy transition and integration objectives.