Global Energy Access Is Improving Too Slowly to Meet the 2030 Goal

Global access to energy is expanding, but not quickly enough to end electricity poverty and dependence on polluting cooking fuels by 2030, according to the 2026 Tracking SDG 7 report. The assessment, compiled from new data through 2024 by several international agencies, estimates that 655 million people still had no electricity connection in 2024. Around 2 billion people lacked access to clean cooking fuels or technologies.

Electricity access worldwide rose from 87% of the population in 2015 to 92% in 2024. Yet the remaining shortfall is increasingly concentrated among people living in rural areas, fragile settings and Sub-Saharan Africa. The United Nations projects that, if current trends continue, the global access rate will reach only about 92.5% by 2030—not the universal coverage promised under Sustainable Development Goal 7.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 86% of the world’s population without electricity. The region’s challenge is not simply a matter of extending wires. Many unconnected households are far from existing grids, while connection fees and the cost of electricity can be unaffordable even after infrastructure arrives. Fragile institutions, limited public resources and insufficient international financing add to the difficulty.

Progress has also varied sharply within Africa. An analysis highlighted by EcoNews Kenya found that Eastern Africa reduced its electricity-access deficit by about 35 million people between 2010 and 2024. Kenya, Rwanda, Mauritius and Seychelles were among the countries contributing to that improvement through infrastructure investment, renewable generation and more consistent policies. In Central Africa, however, the number of people without electricity grew by roughly 34 million. Western Africa made only modest gains because population growth absorbed much of the benefit from new connections.

These regional differences show why national averages can conceal the scale of the remaining problem. Grid expansion can serve growing cities and towns, but remote communities may require mini-grids or stand-alone solar systems. Financing models and policies therefore need to support several forms of access rather than relying on a single technology.

The energy transition is advancing in another important area. Renewable sources produced more than 30% of global electricity in 2023, and developing countries have rapidly expanded renewable capacity. But the amount of renewable capacity available per person remains far higher in wealthy countries than in low-income ones. This imbalance limits the ability of poorer nations to provide reliable power, support businesses and reduce exposure to imported fossil fuels.

Cooking presents a separate and particularly consequential gap. Worldwide, clean-cooking access reached about 75% of the population, but in Sub-Saharan Africa it was only 22%. The International Energy Agency estimates that nearly half of the roughly 2 billion people without clean cooking live in that region. Without faster progress, the United Nations expects about 1.8 billion people still to depend on polluting fuels and technologies in 2030.

Many households continue to burn charcoal, firewood or other traditional biomass indoors. The resulting smoke is associated with an estimated 2.5 million premature deaths each year, according to the IEA. The burden is also social and economic: collecting fuel can consume time, often placing greater demands on women and girls, while unreliable fuel supplies and rising prices can make cleaner options difficult to maintain.

African governments and development partners announced an additional $900 million in clean-cooking commitments in 2026, building on $2.2 billion pledged at a 2024 summit. About $740 million of the earlier funding had been deployed across 22 countries, and more than 30 African countries had introduced a combined 121 related policies. The commitments signal growing attention, but the IEA estimates that closing Africa’s clean-cooking gap could require around $4 billion each year. Reliable fuel distribution, household affordability and better local data remain unresolved constraints.

The report’s central message is not that energy access has stalled. Millions more people have gained electricity, renewable power is growing and some countries are making substantial advances. Rather, the remaining communities are often the hardest and most expensive to reach. Meeting the 2030 goal will require faster investment, targeted support for rural and fragile regions, affordable connections and sustained financing for both electricity and clean cooking.