Muhammad Wakil is the country delivery lead in Nigeria for the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. Prior to this position, he had been a senior energy specialist at the World Bank where he specialised in energy infrastructure investments in Africa and the Middle East. In this interview with Odinaka Anudu, BusinessDay’s Deputy Editor (News), Wakil speaks about renewable energy, including ambitious projects such as BESS and Mission 300.
Why was GEAPP created, and why is its mission to accelerate energy access and a green energy transition more critical now than ever?
GEAPP was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021 to address a defining challenge of our time: accelerating the transition to renewable energy in emerging economies.
Renewable energy has the ability to become the cheapest form of power in history. Despite Africa being home to abundant solar, wind, and hydro resources to power the region’s future, its potential remains untapped. Africa accounts for less than 3 percent of global renewables capacity, and 600 million people on the continent live without access to power – driving energy inequality and economic migration.
GEAPP is driving a green energy revolution on the continent and beyond by partnering on initiatives such as Mission 300. Led by the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB), our shared goal of connecting 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030 is the most ambitious and important global undertaking for decades.
What distinguishes GEAPP from other global organisations working in the clean energy and development sectors?
GEAPP addresses the gaps that persist in bringing about the green energy transition – whether that’s outdated regulation, capital barriers or the absence of private sector capital. Collaboration is at our core. Our alliance-based approach brings together over 50 partners – including governments, multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, and private sector players – to drive collective action towards ambitious energy goals.
Founded by leading philanthropic foundations, including the IKEA Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Bezos Earth Fund, we operate with a unique ability to take risks, experiment with innovative models, and focus solely on accelerating green energy access in emerging markets. We are agile and can fast-track the delivery of projects where traditional investors often hesitate to come in.
Our country-led approach leverages in-country expertise in nations including Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Ethiopia, ensuring our interventions are sustainable, collaborative, and aligned with national priorities. We deploy catalytic capital to unlock opportunities that would otherwise remain inaccessible through direct investment or de-risking projects to attract private sector participation. We primarily target key change levers such as Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) – technologies with a demonstrated potential to shape a sustainable global energy transition for all.
At the heart of GEAPP’s work is the belief that a just and inclusive transition is the only true transition. Clean, reliable, and affordable energy is a direct enabler of income-generating activities that uplift livelihoods and position Africa as a globally competitive hub of innovation and ingenuity. We empower entrepreneurs committed to building renewable energy-led businesses and co-create ecosystems where SMEs can thrive.
Over the years, we have equipped communities with the skills and infrastructure to improve livelihoods and maximise participation in green industries. This could not be possible without effective partnerships with governments that have crafted policies and responsive regulatory frameworks that support the roll-out of technological innovations such as solar panels, making clean energy projects more economically viable.
How does GEAPP measure the success of its initiatives? Could you share examples of the tangible impacts you’ve achieved so far in terms of energy access, economic growth, or environmental benefits?
We measure our impact through carbon reduction, energy access, job creation, and capital mobilisation (CAJM) metrics, ensuring that our interventions create measurable and sustainable outcomes for historically marginalised groups, particularly women, young people, and indigenous groups.
To date, GEAPP has invested over $440 million in projects, connecting 1.2 million people to new or improved energy systems across nine countries and supporting over 600,000 new jobs and livelihoods. These investments also deliver significant environmental benefits, with projected reductions of 44 million tons of CO2 over the life cycles of our projects. By mobilising over $1 billion in funding, we are advancing bold, scalable, clean energy solutions where they are needed most.
What learnings can you take from your projects in Nigeria, the broader region, and other emerging markets such as India? How does your work in Asia apply to African geographies?
GEAPP fully supports the objectives outlined in Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan, which aims for 30,000 megawatts (MW) of clean generation capacity and five million new jobs in renewable energy value chains by 2030. By working closely with the Nigerian government, we are building a shared understanding of these goals and aligning our efforts with the country’s national development priorities.
In all the countries where GEAPP is supporting national energy transition plans, it is essential to lay the groundwork for adequate energy storage as we scale up generation capacity. We can draw on lessons from our 40 MWh BESS pilot in India, where a major policy push for renewable energy – expected to grow by over 250 percent by 2030 – could otherwise place strain on existing grid infrastructure.
GEAPP’s successful project in India was highly relevant for our 20 MW BESS initiative in Malawi – our first in Africa – where we began construction in November 2024. Despite spanning diverse geographies, these projects successfully demonstrate how grid innovations can enable weak grids to integrate more solar power at the lowest cost, serving as a model for scalable energy solutions worldwide.
Applying insights from our projects across diverse regions will be key to guiding the scale-up of projects in our BESS Consortium’s participating countries on the continent, which, alongside Malawi, include Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Togo, Mozambique, and Burkina Faso. As an Alliance, our ambition is to develop scalable pathways for 1 GW of battery storage projects by 2026.
Equally important is bringing together different regional players to drive collaborative interventions across the entire renewable energy value chain, from generation to end-use applications. For example, our team in India collaborated with SEforALL and WRI India to organise a study mission for Nigerian government representatives, sharing India’s experience in scaling up e-mobility. Both countries can transform clean transportation solutions through collaboration and the exchange of knowledge and best practices.
Can you talk to us about the Mission 300 initiative? What role does BESS play in M300’s ambitious target to electrify 300 million people in Africa by 2030?
Mission 300 is an ambitious global undertaking led by the World Bank and the African Development Bank to provide power to 300 million Africans, half of Africa’s unelectrified population, by 2030. The programme is supported by GEAPP, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).
While renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are Africa’s most abundant and cost-effective energy resources, these solutions need to be reinforced to provide power around the clock. This is where BESS comes in. By storing excess energy generated during peak production hours and dispatching it during peak demand, BESS ensures that clean energy is available when and where it is needed most.
By 2030, it is estimated that 360 GW of global battery storage capacity will be required to enable renewables to meet 70 percent of global electricity demand. Put simply, investment in BESS must keep pace with generation if Mission 300 is to succeed.
With Africa’s rich raw materials and increasing interest in manufacturing, the continent has the potential to lead the global battery storage value chain. How can the perception of high production costs be addressed effectively, alongside critical policy and regulatory challenges hindering progress toward accelerating access to power?
The perception of high production costs is far from the reality on the ground. Batteries are the world’s fastest-growing commercially available energy technology, with lithium-ion battery costs having dropped by more than 90 percent since 2010.
Beyond simply providing energy, our work integrates a strong focus on lowering the levelised cost of energy even further while stimulating demand as a driver of economic development and sustainable electrification. Increased energy consumption reduces the per-unit cost of electricity, making electrification projects more financially sustainable and significantly cheaper than polluting fossil fuel alternatives.
Whilst policy and regulatory hurdles can affect progress, GEAPP’s extensive network – including governments, developers, and impact investors – supports the evolution of a progressive ecosystem. In partnership with Odyssey and All On, we launched the Demand Aggregation for Renewable Technologies (DART), an aggregated procurement platform for decentralised renewable energy (DRE) equipment. By pooling orders from multiple developers, DART has secured savings of up to 30 percemnt from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). This platform has already facilitated the deployment of 27 mini-grids, with many more projects in the pipeline through DARES.
At COP29, world leaders rallied behind the Global Green Energy Storage Pledge, a transformative commitment to increase global energy storage capacity sixfold by 2030, targeting 1.5 terawatts (TW). How do you see this affecting the broader energy storage sector in Africa, and, on a global scale, gathering momentum behind the BESS Consortium?
Current levels of investment in BESS are not high enough to keep pace with solar. The Global Green Energy Storage Pledge at COP29 testifies to the global recognition that this breakthrough technology will accelerate the journey toward a continent-wide green energy transition.
We now need to translate these words into decisive action. This is why the BESS Consortium was launched by GEAPP at COP28. The Consortium aims to secure 5 GW of BESS commitments in low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2024. As governments focus on advancing energy transition plans which involve expanding storage capacity, they will need to tap into diverse pools of domestic and international capital. This involves securing support from business leaders in telecommunications, ICT, and data centre owners who are among many future facing sectors that will switch to BESS as their uninterruptible power supply solution.
GEAPP exists to bring these complementary sources of capital together. By providing critical proof points, such as our recently launched 20 MW BESS project in Lilongwe, Malawi, we are helping to accelerate the scale-up of BESS projects across the Consortium’s participating countries. This momentum is crucial to achieving the 90 GW of BESS needed to support the 400 GW of renewable energy required by 2030.
Can you share any further insights from GEAPP’s engagements at COP29? What steps will African nations and partners take to mobilise capital and implement projects that drive green growth?
At COP29, GEAPP, alongside African leaders, co-hosted the Africa Climate Summit High-Level event, highlighting the critical need for climate justice and financial reform to support Africa’s climate and development goals. African nations, united in their voice, are calling for urgent climate adaptation funding and stronger multilateral collaboration to build resilience and safeguard livelihoods.
GEAPP also hosted a roundtable, in partnership with Goals House, on how to unlock the immense promise of battery storage to deliver a just energy transition in emerging markets. To meet the target of 400 GW of renewable energy needed by 2030 to alleviate energy poverty and cut a gigaton of CO2 emissions, 90 GW of storage capacity must be developed.
Looking ahead to COP30, the urgency to deliver the right solutions for the greatest challenge facing people and the planet has never been clearer. African-led climate innovation must be funded – and fast. Initiatives like the Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa (APRA) and the Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative (AGII) have already made transformative strides in scaling climate-aligned infrastructure projects. But the scale of Africa’s challenges demands more from us and the international community.
To meet this demand, Africa and its global partners must rethink financing mechanisms, moving beyond traditional climate finance. This includes expanding blended finance models, and creating de-risking financial instruments to unlock new capital that will power Africa’s green transformation. As market makers, GEAPP will continue deploying our agile capital to test new ideas, bring them to scale, and build sustained, irreversible momentum across these sectors.
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