The Africa Sustainable Energy Dialogue, the flagship event of the Africa Sustainable Energy Center (ASEC), convened on Friday, May 16, to examine the root causes of Africa’s persistent energy access challenges.

Held virtually across the Center’s platforms, this year’s dialogue was themed: “Bridging Africa’s Energy Access Gap: Challenges, Innovations and Path Forward.”

The dialogue brought together leading voices in African energy, who challenged common narratives around the continent’s energy poverty and instead called for a deeper examination of structural, political, and economic barriers.

“Most often, we hear that over 600 million Africans do not have access to electricity. We hope this doesn't become a cliché,” one of the moderators noted.

Speaking during the dialogue on the reason why energy access remains out of reach for over 600 million Africans, whether it is political, infrastructural, or economic, panelists made it clear that the issue goes beyond just a lack of resources.

The Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO), Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, offered a critical perspective.

“I don't believe poverty is responsible for our not having access to energy,” he said. “Africa's biggest challenge is really visionary leadership. We lack political will. Our decisions often satisfy immediate wants rather than long-term goals.”

Dr. Ibrahim explained that while Africa produces ample oil and gas, the majority is exported.

“Today, 75% of the oil we produce and 45% of our gas is exported out of Africa. The real beneficiaries are not the masses but the elite.”

He added that Africa must prioritise using its energy resources to serve its people.

“If we commit to making energy accessible to our people, for homes, industries, everything else will follow.”

Former Executive Secretary of Ghana’s Energy Commission, Dr. Alfred Ofosu Ahenkorah, reinforced the view that political leadership is the linchpin to addressing the crisis.

“Access to energy is a matter of leadership,” he said. “No individual electrifies a country. Government must lead the charge.”

Drawing on Ghana’s own electrification history, Dr. Ahenkorah noted that it took decades of deliberate, state-led planning, starting with the Akosombo Dam and culminating in the National Electrification Program, to boost access from just 19 per cent in 1989 to over 87 per cent today.

From a regional perspective, Monique Motty of the African Development Bank pointed to deeper systemic and historical issues.

“The barriers to energy access reflect a larger issue—our development path hasn't always prioritised our identity or interests,” she said.

“We’re navigating systems that weren’t designed for us, and we need to interrogate whether our political structures support our development goals.”

A former Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Energy, Professor Abubakar Sambo, outlined the interlocking economic, infrastructure, and political challenges.

“It’s a complex web—limited financing, aging infrastructure, and insufficient leadership,” he said.

“Most governments have competing demands, health, education, security, and energy is often underfunded.”

He also cited investor hesitation due to market instability, weak regulatory frameworks, and corruption as key obstacles.

“Subsidy regimes, while well-intentioned, are often poorly managed and discourage private investment.”

On his part, the Board Chairman of United Bank for Africa-Ghana, Kweku Andoh Awotwi, traced the crisis back to a post-independence legacy of treating electricity as a social service.

“For decades, the state believed electricity was a public good and didn’t mobilise the capital needed to generate, transmit, and distribute it effectively,” he said.

“Even when countries unbundled and privatised, the sector remained crippled by debt and underperformance.”

He highlighted the continent’s slow adoption of decentralised renewable energy systems, especially in solar.

“We’re not deploying grid-parity solar solutions because our power systems are financially unsustainable.”