Power transmission: Africa's biggest energy challenge and opportunity

Insufficient transmission system capacity is the main bottleneck in Africa’s power sector, according to Timothy Mgaya, deputy managing director for distribution at the Tanzania Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO). “We have not been able to fully utilise the generation capacity that we have been constructing,” he said during a panel at the Infra for Africa Forum. Mgaya explained that, in light of this chronic underinvestment in transmission, Tanzania’s priority now is to strengthen the grid to unlock the full value of its generation assets. “Our most critical project is the grid stabilisation project; we are constructing substations and associated transmission lines across every major city and district, ensuring reliable power supply to consumers and other productive sectors,” he said. He added that TANESCO is also undertaking a transmission rehabilitation programme to upgrade and modernise older substations. Pakinam Kafafi, TAQA Arabia CEO, argued that greater investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure is essential to make more generation projects bankable. Many investors, she noted, are eager to finance new generation capacity but hesitate because there is no infrastructure to evacuate the power produced. With fiscal space constrained, Kafafi noted that the private sector can play a more prominent role in grid development. While no independent transmission projects are currently in operation in Africa, several governments have signalled growing openness to the model. This includes Kenya, which recently signed an agreement with Africa50 and India’s Power Grid to construct two high-voltage transmission lines in the country. Policy and regulatory clarity key Kafafi argued that for the private sector to get more involved in power transmission and distribution, policy and regulatory clarity from the government is crucial. “As private investors in energy, our ask to governments is a clear, stable long-term policy framework. Investors need visibility and a clear strategy from the government on what the short, medium and long term plan,” she said. Judith Ssengendo, the director of technical planning for Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Authority, said Uganda was for the first time opening up power transmission to private investors. This, she said, was in part driven by fiscal considerations. “When you have a government budget, there are a lot of competing priorities for the government. That is where private capital comes in. We have had to amend the Electricity Act and allow private participation in transmission,” she remarked. “We are providing a stable and clear regulatory framework and we have developed project pipelines. That is what private investors are looking for,” she said. “We were able to license the first IPT project in Uganda, and groundbreaking was on 2 July 2026. This is due to the clear and transparent regulatory framework. We formulated IPT [independent power transmission] regulations; our tariff methodology is very clear; we have established clear roles and obligations for the ministry, the transmission company, and stakeholders, and we have dispute resolution mechanisms in place.” Kipkemoi Kibias, acting managing director at the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO), said the utility was the first in Africa to sign a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement for a transmission line. “We did it with none other than Africa50 as our private investor,” he emphasised. Kibias explained that Kenya began exploring private partnerships for transmission infrastructure in 2018, but only signed its first IPT agreement in December 2025. The delay, he said, stemmed from the absence of proper institutional and contractual frameworks. “There were no models to refer to, and PPP laws only made provisions for generation but not for transmission,” he explained. He highlighted key lessons from the process, including the need to reassure private investors about how political risks will be mitigated. “Private investors want security and assurance, especially as these projects span different political and electoral cycles. They need confidence that the projects will proceed even with changes in government,” Kibias said. Regional electricity trade Lioko Sitali, director of transmission, operations and trade at ZESCO, Zambia’s national utility, underlined the need to invest in cross-border interconnectors to support regional power trade. “Remember, the power you produce will need to cross borders,” he said. However, he cautioned that investments in interconnectors must go hand in hand with the strengthening of national transmission systems. “We are moving towards interconnecting the Southern African Power Pool and the Eastern Africa Power Pool. What this means is that we will have a market stretching from Cape Town to Cairo, so if your national transmission backbone is weak, that becomes a bottleneck.” He also called for investments in power storage, saying that this was crucial in view of the significant supply of renewable energy coming online. “Now that we are bringing in renewable energy, we need utility-scale batteries.” Steve Dihwa, executive director at the Southern African Power Pool, said the private sector had, over the years, emerged as a key player in the region’s electricity markets – signalling the commercial viability of the model. “When SAPP was established, it initially targeted power utilities. But because of strong political support, ministers of energy revised the rules in 2006 to allow independent players to become members. Today SAPP has 28 members, of which only 12 are national utilities,” Dihwa said.