UNGA 80: Mission 300 Will Be Won on the Grid
This UNGA, Mission 300 is the test of delivery that matters: 300 million new electricity connections by 2030, and electricity that fuels growth. Africa has added generation at pace, yet too often power stalls at the substation. Without the lines, substations, and crossborder links that move electrons to clinics, markets, and factories, megawatts remain a statistic, not a solution.
The challenge is plain. Transmission and subtransmission have lagged investment in generation, creating pockets of surplus alongside communities and industries still running on diesel. Utilities carry weak balance sheets. Permitting and rightofway slow interconnectors. FX volatility and liquidity risks push up the cost of capital. When lastmile demand is not planned in, mini grids operate below cost-recovery levels and reliability slips after handover. Mission 300 will rise or fall on how quickly countries can turn stranded power into productive, affordable supply.
That is why the next phase must marry national backbones, regional interconnectors, and distributed solutions. Power pools can move clean energy to where it is needed, and anchor loads in health, water, and agroprocessing turn access into income. Pay for performance, not just completion, and standardize open access and wheeling so private capital can help build the grid.
Mitrelli is shaping projects around that logic. In Angola’s Uíge Province, we are partnering with the government to electrify 44 communities across 23 municipalities — bringing reliable power to 3.5 million people. The project strengthens sub-transmission and last-mile delivery, ensuring energy supports health services, small businesses, and resilient livelihoods. Uíge stands as a benchmark in sustainable electrification, meeting international Category A environmental standards and showing what’s possible when infrastructure investment is designed to be both technically sound and socially inclusive.
Across our portfolio, we integrate energy with water systems, cold chains, and education facilities. We structure partnerships that blend public and private finance with clear, bankable rules — aligning delivery with national priorities and local impact.
If this year’s UNGA is to leave a lasting mark, it should prioritize practical steps: fast-track permits and grid codes for priority interconnectors, adopt transparent wheeling and open access frameworks, and expand credit enhancement mechanisms to attract long-term capital into transmission infrastructure. Because when the grid works, Mission 300 becomes more than a number. It becomes jobs, resilience, and shared prosperity.