Plan to get electricity to more Africans wins $8-billion in new pledges

An initiative to connect 300-million Africans to electricity in the next six years has won new pledges worth more than $8-billion from lenders including the Islamic Development Bank and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. The Mission 300 initiative, launched by the World Bank and the African Development Bank in April, is projected to cost $90-billion. Its implementation faces challenges because the economies of countries in the region are severely constrained, mainly due to sluggish revenue and high debt service costs.