Through Gridworks, we are building the infrastructure to expand reliable power across African economies
Expanding access to sustainable, affordable and reliable power remains one of Africa’s biggest challenges. Today, more than 600 million people in Africa live without access to electricity. While generation capacity is growing, weak transmission and distribution networks continue to limit access and constrain economic growth.
We launched Gridworks in 2019 to address this gap. It focuses on the often-overlooked infrastructure that connects and strengthens electricity systems. Its approach combines long-term capital with technical expertise, working in partnership with governments, development finance institutions and private institutions to develop projects that can attract wider funding.
In 2025, Gridworks-backed projects reached important milestones across several markets.
In Burundi, where just 12 per cent of the population has access to electricity, the Upper Ruvyironza hydropower plant became operational in April 2025. The 1.65MW facility was completed by Anzana Electric Group, a Gridworks portfolio company. The plant now supplies 10GWh of clean, baseload electricity to the national grid. Alongside this, Anzana raised debt funding from the Trade and Development Bank Group for both this project and the 9MW Upper Mulembwe hydropower plant, expected to start supplying power to Burundi’s grid in 2027. When both are operational, they should increase Burundi’s generation capacity by around 10 per cent and expand electricity access to more than 100,000 households.
Gridworks also progressed work on larger-scale transmission infrastructure. In Mozambique, development continued on a 460km transmission line linking central and northern regions. And in South Africa, Gridworks is part of the Pulse Infrastructure consortium selected for the prequalification phase of the country’s first Independent Transmission Programme, aimed at delivering thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines to support renewable energy expansion. More recently, Gridworks reached financial close on the Amari Power Transmission Project in Uganda, the first independent transmission project in Africa to reach this milestone. The project will upgrade the transforming capacity of four high-voltage substations at key locations on the country’s national grid.
Together, these developments show how Gridworks is helping to build stronger electricity systems – through both individual projects and platforms that attract investment, reduce risk and support long-term market development.
