Since joining the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform, the African Association for Rural Electrification (CLUB-ER) is opening up a world of opportunity for mini-grid development by driving African knowledge sharing and public–private collaboration on the continent and beyond.
According to the 2024 SDG7 Tracking Report [1], 685 million people worldwide lack access to electricity, over 80% of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. Mini-grid systems are an increasingly cost-effective solution for rural and underserved communities, but progress is constrained by gaps in regulatory frameworks, limited institutional capacity, and insufficient technical expertise among policymakers.
To address these challenges, CLUB-ER is implementing the Growing Government Engagement in Energy Access (GGE-EA) project, supported with R&D funding via the TEA platform. Delivered in partnership with SouthSouthNorth, the initiative focuses on creating an enabling policy and investment environment by strengthening government capabilities, facilitating public–private dialogue, and supporting structured knowledge exchange.
Strengthening capacity and coordination
Headquartered in Côte d’Ivoire, CLUB-ER brings together 43 members across 32 African countries, providing a powerful network for collaboration. CLUB-ER delivers targeted capacity building through workshops, online training, and peer-to-peer learning, focused on strengthening economic and financial analysis, technical understanding, policy and regulatory frameworks, and impact assessment.
By improving institutional capacity and decision-making among rural electrification officials, CLUB-ER supports more effective planning and implementation of renewable energy and mini-grid projects. It also facilitates collaboration between public and private stakeholders, increasing the chances of investment. To date, more than 600 policymakers have participated in CLUB-ER’s training programmes. Furthermore, the GGE-EA project has also developed a map of mini-grids, drawing on data from 30 countries, to support planning through improved evaluation and viability of rural electrification solutions.
The power of partnership
CLUB-ER is a pioneer of TEA’s Local Partnership Inclusion (LPI) support service, one of three African-led projects championing locally led, context-specific energy access solutions. Launched in 2019, TEA’s LPI aims to drive the expertise and capabilities of local partners across Africa, South and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands by directly funding regional organisations.
Being part of the TEA platform has helped CLUB-ER diversify its network and strengthen connections with new partners.
CLUB-ER Executive Secretary, Hary Andriantavy, says:
It’s a great opportunity for us to extend our audience,” “Initially, our membership was limited to French-speaking countries. Since our funding from TEA in 2021, we have worked with more and more partners (6) from the Commonwealth in sub-Saharan Africa.
SouthSouthNorth Programme Lead Roy Bouwer highlights the long-term value of CLUB-ER’s engagement:
This has really opened the door for learning about delivering and managing projects. […] the experience that CLUB-ER will gain from forming these partnerships is hugely important in terms of the sustainability of the organisation […] and […] its ability to continue to engage in these large-scale international projects and participate in discussions with international donors.
The partnership has also increased participation by women and young people, including women-led regulatory training cohorts. Hary stresses the importance of involving the next generation:
We have to prepare young people to work in this sector. Inclusion is crucial for a partnership with sustainable activities.
This reflects growing recognition that inclusive policymaking strengthens both social impact and investor confidence in the mini-grid sector.
Roy also commented on the two-way flow of information and experience benefitting the TEA platform:
We’ve been able to bring in that technical expertise and experience. CLUB-ER has institutional links to different countries and I think that’s a valuable resource […]. We’ve really been able to strengthen TEA’s presence on the continent through increasing the number of African policymakers at key sector events.
A space for critical thinking
A key contribution of TEA’s LPI support service has been the LPI working group which allows “critical thinking” about approaches to project delivery and partner participation.
It has allowed people to explore broader issues. [… and] really think about the way they approach local partnership inclusion,” says Roy.
Roy sees further opportunities to involve local stakeholders earlier in design and inception stages:
This would go a long way to making sure that we have local buy in.
Hary is a strong advocate for local partnership inclusion and encourages other African-led organisations to engage with the TEA platform. He highlights the breadth of support available while noting the need to ‘’be patient’’ and ‘’ Be prepared to work hard’’ when navigating funding processes.
Roy adds:
Local partners shouldn’t underestimate their own expertise and potential, he says, noting that conversations within the TEA platform are very technical and high level but local partners’ on-the-ground experience is essential to shaping effective and context-specific energy access interventions.
Since joining the TEA platform in 2019, CLUB-ER has trained 638 policymakers and supported 29 members to participate in key sector events. Through its partnership with SouthSouthNorth and TEA funding, CLUB-ER’s institutional capacity has grown, enabling more effective coordination with public and private sector stakeholders and strengthening the mini-grid policymaking sector.
Find out more about the Transforming Energy Access platform.
This material has been funded by the UK Government via the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform. However, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.
[1] https://www.irena.org/Publications/2024/Jun/Tracking-SDG-7-The-Energy-Progress-Report-2024