Uganda targets 85% electricity access by 2030 as compact moves towards delivery

Photo: Nasque / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display.

Uganda is moving towards implementation of an energy compact that targets electricity access for 85% of its population and clean-cooking access for 50% by 2030. The goals put household connections, investment and delivery oversight at the centre of the next phase of the country’s energy programme.

The African Development Bank reported on 28 October that the compact was launched at a Kampala forum held on 21–22 October. Those dates distinguish the event from the publication of the announcement: the targets are future commitments, rather than current access rates.

From national ambition to a delivery timetable

According to the bank, participants agreed on project priorities and plans for a Compact Delivery and Monitoring Unit within the energy ministry. Its first semi-annual progress report is due in December 2026. The compact seeks substantial private investment, and distinguishes projects expected to operate by 2030 from those expected to secure financing by then.

That distinction matters when assessing announcements. A project reaching financial close has passed a financing milestone; it does not necessarily mean that households are already receiving power. Progress reports will need to make those stages understandable to the people the programme is intended to serve.

What Mission 300 actually counts

The compact sits within Mission 300, the World Bank Group and AfDB initiative to connect 300 million additional people to electricity by 2030. The World Bank’s methodology counts new household connections, with the number of people estimated using official average household size.

Grid extensions, renewable mini-grids and qualifying stand-alone solar systems can contribute. Solar lanterns, temporary connections and meter replacements that do not create a new household connection do not qualify. The bank distinguishes enabling infrastructure and policy reforms from direct household access.

Clean cooking is part of the wider reform agenda, but is measured separately from the headline electricity target. This helps prevent several different benefits from being presented as though they were the same number of newly connected people.

Existing programmes provide practical context

Uganda’s energy ministry describes its Electricity Access Scale-Up Project as a World Bank-supported programme for households, enterprises, industrial parks and public institutions. Its published components include connections to the electricity network, off-grid access for refugee settlements and host communities.

The ministry also identifies clean-cooking services and work on biogas and electric cooking. These components show the different ways an access programme can reach users, although their existence does not prove that every compact target is financed or that planned connections have been completed.

What households and businesses should watch

A useful delivery report would show where new connections have been made, what service people receive and whether they can afford to keep using it. A household with a connection and a business with dependable power throughout its working day face related but different needs.

The energy ministry says its existing project uses results-based financing for connections in the distribution network and also includes off-grid access for refugee settlements and host communities. That shows why progress reports need to identify which delivery route produced each result.

For investors and public authorities, the challenge is to connect a national target to identifiable projects, responsible institutions and funds that can be committed. For readers, clear reporting should separate planned investment, signed financing, construction and service actually delivered.

December’s expected progress report offers a near-term checkpoint before the 2030 deadline. The most informative evidence will be verifiable results alongside explanations of delays and financing gaps. The compact provides a structure for that assessment; it should not be read as proof that the promised expansion has already occurred.