Access Without Power: The SDG7 Report’s Silent Gap on Africa’s Productive Future

Image credit - SDG 7 report

Every year, the Tracking SDG7: Energy Progress Report provides a necessary but sobering update on how far the world is from achieving universal energy access. The 2024 edition is no different. It confirms what many of us working in African development already know: that energy poverty in Africa remains an existential problem and the region of the continent south of the Sahara remains the epicenter of global energy poverty.

The report draws much needed attention to the stagnation in global electrification, the widening urban-rural divide, and the increasingly indispensable role of decentralized renewables. The analysis rightly highlights that solar home systems and mini-grids must do the heavy lifting if we are to reach the most remote and vulnerable communities. In doing so, the report provides a valuable, evidence-based foundation for governments, investors, and donors to coordinate their efforts.

But for all its strengths, the report is silent on one of the most critical aspects of Africa’s energy future: the productive use of electricity—particularly for industrialization. This omission is more than an oversight. It matters. It reflects a broad pattern about how development practitioners think about energy in Africa: too often as a social good to be distributed, instead of a strategic input for economic transformation.

Energy as Survival, Not Development

The report measures progress by counting connections and households with basic access. That is essential—access to light, refrigeration, and clean cooking saves lives and lifts burdens, especially for women and girls.

But energy is more than light. It is an indispensable precondition of industrialization. You cannot process cocoa without reliable electricity. You cannot operate a textile mill on a solar lantern. You cannot build the factories, agro-processors, or logistics cold chains that Africa needs if the electricity system is engineered only to power bulbs, not businesses.

What Kind of Access Are We Measuring?

The SDG7 report congratulates progress in off-grid solutions—but it doesn’t ask whether those solutions can support productive livelihoods. There is no mention of voltage stability, grid reliability, or the cost per kilowatt-hour for small and medium enterprises. In most African countries, industrial users face:

· High prices per unit cost

· Frequent outages or load shedding

· Absence of power in designated economic zones

If we are serious about structural transformation, then not all connections are equal. Counting connections without considering quality risks creating a hollow narrative of progress. And this is one of my worries about Mission 300 - that given the self-imposed limits of reaching its goal in 4.5 years, the measure of success will focus on counting connections.

Industrialization Needs Its Own Energy Track

Africa’s population is young, urbanizing, and growing. Every year, millions more enter the labor market. Where will the jobs come from?

We know the answer: manufacturing, processing, value addition. And we know what those activities require: abundant, reliable, and affordable power. Yet the report offers no analysis on industrial energy use, no insight into how to extend abundant power to rural agro-processing clusters, no discussion of the energy implications of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). That’s not just a gap. It’s a blind spot. And this blind spot is reflected in the kinds of solutions offered for the continent’s energy poverty problem.

To be clear, household access must remain a priority. But Africa’s energy strategy must also be judged by its ability to empower—not just individuals, but entire economies. That means:

· Powering industrial parks in the Gambia, Sierra Leone as well as Cote d’Ivoire

· Supporting cold storage and irrigation in Senegal and Malawi

· Energizing green manufacturing zones in Nigeria and South Africa

I would thus recommend a second track in the SDG7 framework—one that focuses not on access alone, but on abundance.

Reframing Energy for Africa’s Future

As noted in the beginning of this blog, the report is a necessary account of what progress is being made on this goal. However, having seen as many “plans for Africa” as any one person should see over a lifetime, I worry that this line of thinking ends up mistaking motion for momentum. The SDG7 report shows us where we are, but I find its proposed solution of where we need to go, incomplete. It tells us how to keep the lights on. It doesn’t tell us how to power prosperity.

If Africa is to industrialize, we need a new energy narrative—one that links energy to human development. One that counts kilowatt-hours for steel mills and assembly lines, not just solar lanterns. One that sees energy as the foundation of wealth, not merely well-being.

The world’s energy agenda for Africa must not be satisfied with lighting our homes while leaving economies in the dark.