Africa: UN Secretary-General Launches Global Grids Accelerator to Power Growth and Clean Energy in Africa and South-East Asia

UN Secretary-General António Guterres today launched the Global Grids Accelerator, a new initiative to help accelerate investment in electricity infrastructure across Africa and South-East Asia and help turn government and regional priorities into investable, operational projects.

Announced ahead of the UN Climate Summit 2026, the Accelerator will focus on grid priorities identified by governments, bringing together the policy expertise, project preparation, finance, and implementation support needed to move them forward.

The initiative responds to a central challenge of the energy transition: renewable power is expanding rapidly, but in many places the grids needed to connect and carry that electricity are not keeping pace.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: "Renewables are booming, but the grids that carry clean power are not keeping pace. Grids are the arteries of the energy transition. The Global Grids Accelerator will help bring the expertise, finance and support needed to build them - expanding access, strengthening energy security and powering growth in developing countries."

Electricity grids have emerged as one of the biggest bottlenecks in the global energy transition. More than 2,500 gigawatts of renewable energy projects - equivalent to nearly twice the entire electricity generation capacity of the United States - are currently stalled in grid-connection queues worldwide. Annual global investment in grids, now approximately $450 billion, needs to increase by around 50 percent by 2030 to keep pace with rising electricity demand and record renewable power additions as confirmed by the International Renewable Energy Agency.

The International Energy Agency estimates that more than 80 million kilometers of grids - roughly equivalent to the entire global grid in existence today - will need to be added or refurbished by 2040.

The result is a growing mismatch: clean power is being deployed at record speed, while the infrastructure needed to connect and move that electricity is struggling to keep pace. For developing countries, this is also a development challenge. Grid constraints can delay new power generation, constrain industrial growth, and slow efforts to expand access to reliable and affordable electricity. Modern and stronger grids and regional interconnections can help countries make better use of their vast renewable resources, strengthen energy security, and support new industries and jobs.

The barriers are not primarily technological. A key barrier is turning long-term power plans into investable projects and connecting projects with affordable finance and delivery capacity. Governments, utilities, and regional institutions face policy, regulatory, and institutional constraints. At the same time, expertise and resources are spread across governments, development financial institutions, investors, utilities, technology providers and international organizations.

The Global Grids Accelerator will not create a new financing institution or replace existing initiatives. Its role is to help developing countries navigate this complex landscape by bringing together relevant policy, technical, financing and implementation partners around priority grid investments and helping move those priorities towards delivery.

Supporting country and regional priorities

In Africa, the Accelerator will build on continental, regional and national initiatives already underway, including the Continental Power System Master Plan, the African Single Electricity Market, the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, Mission 300 and the National Energy Compacts. Working with Member States, the African Union Commission, development banks and other regional and international partners, it will support priority grid investments and regional interconnections, and the infrastructure needed to expand reliable and affordable electricity.

In South-East Asia, the Accelerator will support regional and national initiatives including the ASEAN Power Grid, working with ASEAN Member States, the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Centre for Energy, development banks and other partners to advance priority grid investments, regional interconnections and cross-border electricity trade.

The Government of Singapore , which will be serving as ASEAN Chair beginning in January 2027, said: "Modern, resilient, and interconnected grids are essential to strengthening energy security and enabling ASEAN's transition to a low-carbon future. Singapore will continue to work with our ASEAN partners to advance the ASEAN Power Grid and cross-border electricity trade, including overcoming regulatory hurdles and developing clear frameworks for cross-border infrastructure such as submarine power cables.

International support can complement ASEAN-led efforts by helping translate our shared ambitions for regional connectivity into viable projects on the ground."

Across both regions, the Accelerator will support grid priorities identified by countries themselves, spanning policy and planning, project preparation, finance and investment, and implementation.

Coordinating support across the UN system

The Accelerator will bring together diverse capabilities from across the United Nations system to provide more coordinated and effective support for country and regional grid priorities. The UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) will convene the Accelerator working with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the UN Global Compact and other UN system entities to mobilize their respective policy, technical, financing and implementation capabilities.

Alexander De Croo, Administrator of UNDP , said: "Grids are the backbone of modern energy systems. They power hospitals, connect businesses, create jobs and make industrial growth possible. Yet too many clean energy projects remain stuck between national plans and investable pipelines. The Global Grids Accelerator will help countries in Africa and South-East Asia to help close that gap by bringing the right partners together around country-led priorities. Clean power only changes lives when it reaches people."