The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is setting up an entity aimed at lowering the cost of mini grids in Africa, to accelerate plans to connect 300-million Africans to electricity by 2030.

The vehicle targets a first financial close of approximately $300-million before the end of 2025, with a long-term capitalisation goal of $1-billion, according to Andrew Herscowitz, the CEO of the so-called Mission 300 Accelerator.

It aims to start disbursing equity funding of $5-million to $40-million per company at the beginning of next year to help established companies boost connections, he said in an interview.

The IFC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“There’s a pipeline of investable companies that have already been identified,” Herscowitz said. “You see companies that are rolling out maybe 10 mini-grids a year. We want to help them roll out hundreds if not thousands of mini-grids a year.”

Mini-grids, which generally use solar energy and batteries to power small communities, is one of the technologies the World Bank, the IFC’s parent, is using to pursue the electrification target it believes will take tens of billions of dollars to attain.

The companies need investment to boost their ability to secure debt and procure in bulk, bringing costs down and accelerating development, Herscowitz said.

Mission 300 Accelerator is a unit established by Rockefeller Catalytic Capital to help coordinate and advance the World Bank’s and African Development Bank’s ambitious commitment to connect 300-million Africans to electricity by 2030. Nearly 600-million people ― about half of the continent’s population — lack this essential resource, accounting for 83% of the global electricity access deficit.

Mission 300 has enabled connection for 30-million people since it was established last year, according to Herscowitz, who was coordinator for seven years for Power Africa, a program initiated by former President Barack Obama to add 30 GW but dismantled by the Donald Trump administration.

“It took us 11 years to get to 200-million people getting access,” he said. “We’re now working together to try to, within about a six-year period, get 300-million people access to electricity.”