In a bustling corner of Aba, Abia State, Nigeria, Chimanda bends over her sewing machine, her hands skillfully stitching colorful Ankara fabric into what could be her next best-selling dress. But just as she starts gaining momentum, the power cuts off. Again. She sighs, looks out the window at her idle generator, and does the math in her head—fuel prices are too high this week. She’ll have to wait.
Chimanda’s story is not unique. It is the lived experience of millions of small business owners across Africa. From cobblers in Nairobi to metal fabricators in Accra, the promise of economic freedom and enterprise is too often sabotaged by an unreliable electricity supply. And until this challenge is boldly addressed, poverty will remain Africa’s unwelcome guest.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), as of 2023, over 570 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity. While countries like Kenya have made modest progress—increasing electricity access from 27% in 2013 to about 75% in 2023—others like Nigeria have stagnated, hovering around 55% access with frequent outages even for the connected.
South Africa, once seen as Africa’s industrial powerhouse, has been plagued by load shedding for over a decade, severely affecting productivity. Ethiopia boasts 65% electricity access, up from 23% in 2013, yet rural MSMEs still largely operate in darkness. Across the continent, the story is the same: marginal growth, inconsistent supply, and worsening inequality between the energy-rich and energy-poor.
In the last decade, several major programs promised to transform Africa’s energy landscape. The U.S.-led Power Africa initiative launched in 2013 aimed to add 30,000 megawatts of power capacity and connect 60 million homes and businesses. While some progress was made in project structuring and financing, the actual delivery of power to MSMEs has been minimal.
European efforts, like the EU’s ElectriFI and the World Bank’s Scaling Solar, have largely focused on grid extension and solar farms. Yet these programs often stall due to bureaucratic bottlenecks, land acquisition issues, and political interference. Worse still, many are not designed with small businesses in mind—they serve national utilities, not the last-mile entrepreneurs that form the backbone of African economies.
It’s time for African leaders and their international partners to shift focus. Instead of grand infrastructure schemes alone, putting reliable electricity in the hands of MSMEs must become the starting point for industrial transformation.
MSMEs account for over 80% of employment in many African countries. With steady power, they can move beyond survival into scaling manufacturing, establishing data centers, processing agricultural goods, developing local AI innovations, and participating in global digital economies.
Imagine if 10 million African MSMEs each added just two new jobs because of steady electricity—that’s 20 million jobs and 20 million fewer people in poverty.
Beyond poor power supply, MSMEs face a web of challenges: lack of basic infrastructure like roads and water; complex and corrupt regulatory environments; little to no access to affordable credit; and civil servants who see entrepreneurs as cash cows, not partners.
Electricity, however, is the linchpin. Without it, cold storage businesses can’t preserve food, tech startups can’t host servers, and local artisans can’t scale production. Everything else—capital, regulation, even marketing—becomes secondary if the lights don’t stay on.
Let’s be clear: climate change is real. But Africa’s climate politics must prioritize people over pledges. While wealthy nations continue to exploit fossil fuels, African countries are being urged to go green at all costs—even if it means staying in the dark.
Africa must use its abundant coal and natural gas resources to power its businesses, while also aggressively developing locally manufactured solar technologies. Enough of importing solar panels from China and Europe—Africa must build its own clean energy industry, creating jobs while keeping the lights on.
Give an African entrepreneur stable power, and you give them the world.
With electricity, the tailor scales into a garment factory. The tech coder launches a cloud platform. The farmer processes and packages instead of selling raw goods. With a thriving MSME ecosystem, we don’t just reduce poverty—we engineer inclusive, indigenous-driven wealth creation.
A supported MSME sector with reliable electricity is the bridge between poverty and prosperity.
Here’s what must happen:
Declare a State of Emergency in power supply across Africa. Decentralize electricity regulation, allowing states and cities to generate and distribute power independently. Create Government SPVs focused on supplying subsidized, reliable electricity to MSMEs, particularly in manufacturing. Legislate electricity as a right, not a privilege. Support African entrepreneurs to build local solar systems, not just import them. Set up MSME-only power zones with guaranteed supply and tax incentives. Enable MSMEs to operate cloud and data centers on African soil, reducing dependence on foreign tech ecosystems.
Africa sits on a goldmine—not buried beneath its soil, but buzzing in its markets, homes, and makeshift workshops. Its name is the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise.
These businesses need more than training or talk—they need electricity. Reliable, affordable, and uninterrupted power.
Let’s stop dimming their light with bureaucracy, climate double standards, and imported solutions that don’t fit. Let us, instead, power them up and watch Africa rise—not in pity or debt, but in dignity, wealth, and innovation.
Because when Chimanda’s sewing machine never stops again, Africa’s progress won’t either.
Izu Divine Freeman, known as ID Freeman, is the Co-founder of the Center for Strategic Enterprise Development (CSED), headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria. With a deep commitment to enterprise-led development, ID Freeman has dedicated his career to empowering Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Africa as a sustainable path to poverty reduction, wealth creation, and national transformation
