Cross-border electricity trade is emerging as a key driver of energy security and industrial growth, with stronger regional transmission networks offering new opportunities for mining, manufacturing and mineral beneficiation. Beyond expanding generation capacity, Africa must improve its ability to move power across borders, link countries with complementary energy resources and build integrated electricity markets that strengthen reliability and support economic growth.
Regional power pools are central to this effort, allowing participating countries to trade electricity, share available resources and ease pressure on domestic supply systems as demand rises. Momentum towards a more integrated continental market continued in September 2026, when the African Union Commission convened the inaugural meeting of the African Single Electricity Market’s High-Level Technical Oversight Committee in Addis Ababa. The initiative seeks to advance the integration of national electricity markets and expand cross-border trading.
Existing regional networks demonstrate the potential. Fourteen countries are interconnected through the West African Power Pool, while the Eastern Africa Power Pool recorded approximately 3,200 GWh of electricity trading in 2024, an elevenfold increase from 2010. Southern Africa also operates a regional electricity market through the Southern African Power Pool.
Financing is helping turn regional integration plans into infrastructure investment. In June 2026, the World Bank approved a US$1.6 billion financing package for regional energy transmission, electricity trade and decarbonisation in Eastern Africa. The following month, it announced a US$43 million grant for the Zambia–Malawi Interconnector Project, intended to strengthen electricity security and enable regional power trading.
Across the Southern African Development Community (SADC), interconnection initiatives include the Angola–Namibia, Tanzania–Zambia, Malawi–Mozambique and Mozambique–Zambia links, alongside the ZIZABONA project. Greater connectivity could help countries balance differences in electricity supply and demand, creating opportunities to improve reliability for energy-intensive industries. Mining, mineral beneficiation, manufacturing and agricultural processing all depend on power that is dependable and competitively priced.
However, transmission infrastructure alone will not create an efficient regional market. Regulatory alignment, transparent pricing, investment certainty and financially sustainable utilities are essential to ensuring that electricity can be traded reliably and commercially across borders.
The Managing Director of the Africa Energy Indaba, Liz Hart, said regional cooperation could help turn fragmented national energy systems into a stronger foundation for industrial development. “Africa’s energy challenge is not only about generating more electricity but ensuring that power reaches where it is needed.
Stronger regional electricity markets can unlock investment, improve energy security and create new opportunities for industrial growth. The priority is turning this potential into practical projects and lasting partnerships.”
Cross-border electricity trading and transmission investment will feature at the 19th Africa Energy Indaba, scheduled for 2–4 March 2027 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in South Africa. Under the theme “African Energy – Pathways to Prosperity: Connectedness and Cooperation”, the event will bring together policymakers, utilities, investors, financiers and energy developers to discuss practical approaches to advancing the continent’s energy sector.
As countries seek to attract investment into mining, critical minerals and manufacturing, the effectiveness of regional electricity networks will increasingly influence their ability to compete. The priority is to convert interconnection plans and political commitments into functioning electricity markets capable of delivering reliable power, attracting investment and supporting long-term industrial growth.
