KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Mission 300 has connected 59 million people in Africa to electricity, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga said. That is about one-fifth of the 300 million target for 2030 set with the African Development Bank (World Bank Group — Oct 16, 2026).
• New connections are coming faster: 12 million people gained access in FY24, 18 million in FY25 and 29 million last year (World Bank Group — Oct 16, 2026).
• The World Bank Group mobilized $112 billion in private capital last year, up from about $35 billion in FY22. Mobilization across Africa more than doubled (World Bank Group — Oct 16, 2026).
• Banga put the global jobs gap at about 800 million. He said 1.2 billion young people will enter a job market expected to offer about 400 million jobs over 10 to 15 years (World Bank Group — Oct 16, 2026).
• IDB Invest and Proparco signed an Enhanced Cooperation Agreement to speed up co-financing of private-sector deals in Latin America and the Caribbean (Proparco — Oct 16, 2026).

STORIES THAT MATTER

AFRICA — World Bank Group Says Mission 300 Has Connected 59 Million Africans To Electricity

Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, told the 2026 Annual Meetings Plenary in Bangkok that 59 million people in Africa have gained electricity access under Mission 300.

The plan to package and transfer development-bank power loans could also let pension funds and other institutional investors buy into African energy assets.

The program, run with the African Development Bank, aims to connect 300 million people by 2030 (World Bank Group — Oct 16, 2026).