Discover the Digital Energy program

Accelerating Africa’s energy transition through digital innovation
 

In the face of the urgent need for universal access to electricity and the challenges of the energy transition, Digital Energy is a flagship programme dedicated to digital innovation in support of African power systems.

Led by the AFD Group, co-financed by the European Union and aligned with the Global Gateway strategy, Digital Energy aims to catalyse concrete digital solutions, tailored to local realities, to improve operator performance, accelerate access to energy and support the decarbonisation of the sector.

A clear mission: transforming energy through digital technologies
 

Digital Energy supports the development and deployment of innovative digital solutions to:

⚡ Accelerate access to electricity, particularly in rural and remote areas

🌍 Improve the operational efficiency of public electricity utilities

🔌 Facilitate the integration of renewable energy and storage into power systems

📊 Modernise energy systems through data, AI, IoT and digital platforms

Since 2019, the programme has financed 39 projects in more than 15 countries, representing a total investment of €6.5 million, relying on strong public-private partnerships and solutions with high on-the-ground impact.

Two complementary levers of action

🔹 Supporting public energy utilities

Digital Energy co-designs digital transformation projects with national electricity companies to address concrete operational challenges: quality of service, loss reduction, network management, customer relations, maintenance, and mini-grid operation.

🔹 Supporting entrepreneurial innovation

The programme finances and supports start-ups and innovative companies developing digital solutions for energy access through the Digital Energy Challenge, a recognised open innovation initiative at the African level.

An engaged community and ecosystem

Digital Energy is also a community of over 400 stakeholders — public utilities, start-ups, donors, experts and institutions — brought together through a collaborative platform offering:

• exclusive resources (studies, tools, benchmarks),
• flagship events (bootcamps, webinars, workshops),
• spaces for exchange and peer learning,
• strong visibility for projects and solution providers.

From 2026 onwards: a strengthened Digital Partnership approach

From 2026 onwards, Digital Energy strengthens its action through a Digital Partnership approach, aiming to structure long-term partnerships between public electricity stakeholders and private innovation ecosystems.

This approach is built around two complementary pillars:

Pillar 1: PROJECT IDENTIFICATION & FINANCING

Financing and supporting the development of tailored technological solutions

• Partnerships with local public utilities
• Open innovation challenges
• Hackathons & design sprints
• Innovation labs with operators and local ecosystems
• Acceleration funds for collaborative projects
• Tailored technical assistance and financing

Pillar 2: CAPACITY BUILDING

Supporting the scaling-up of stakeholders on their key priorities

• Animation of a dedicated community to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing
• Tools to identify needs, assess solution maturity and finance projects
• Targeted webinars, toolkits, bootcamps and learning expeditions

🎯 Objective

To create a fertile ground for innovation between local public actors committed to universal access and private companies offering innovative solutions.

The Digital Energy Challenge: how does it work in practice?

• Identification of priority topics with national utilities
• Support for project identification throughout the year (technical and financial viability)
• Open innovation challenge
• Selection of 3 to 4 solutions from the private sector
• Hackathon & sandbox based on real datasets
• Final selection by an ad hoc committee with veto rights