This week, stakeholders from across Uganda’s energy sector meet in Kampala to consult on the country’s Mission 300 National Energy Compact. Mission 300 is a joint initiative of the World Bank and the African Development Bank, backed by partners, including the Rockefeller Foundation. Its goal is to connect 300 million sub–Saharan Africans to the national grid by 2030. The meeting’s theme “From Mission 300 to Vision 2040,” shapes reforms, investment pipeline, and sequencing behind Uganda’s 2030 targets.
In 2024, the year the agenda launched, I attended the World Bank annual meetings in Washington, D.C. I have waited ever since to see it take root at home. Reliable and affordable electricity is the foundation of development. Without it, almost nothing else can stand. Uganda signed its compact in June at the Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town, alongside more than 30 African governments. The signing was worth marking, but these consultations are where the real work starts.