Addis Ababa, 8 September 2025 — The Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA) and RMI (founded as Rocky Mountain Institute) have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa to accelerate universal energy access across Africa.
The partnership will drive enabling policy, strengthen market design, and scale innovative business models to deliver clean, affordable, and reliable power to underserved communities.
Bringing together AMDA’s extensive network of minigrid developers across 24 African countries with RMI’s global expertise in energy systems transformation, the collaboration will focus on five priority areas:
• Policy advancement and joint convening
• Pan-African expansion of programmes and impact
• Joint research and publications
• Partnership development across allied industries
• Resource mobilization
By combining RMI’s mission to secure a clean and prosperous energy transition to renewables with AMDA’s deep sector expertise and private-sector reach, the partnership will help build a more enabling ecosystem for decentralized renewable energy (DRE) deployment across the continent of Africa.
“At RMI, we believe decentralized energy resources—particularly interconnected minigrids—are essential to unlocking equitable and climate-resilient development across the continent,” said Ije Ikoku Okeke, Managing Director at RMI. “Our collaboration with AMDA reflects a shared commitment to scale impact by combining AMDA’s grassroots developer insights with RMI’s systems-level expertise and global partnerships.”
“This partnership represents a powerful alignment between two mission-driven organisations working to solve Africa’s energy access challenge,” said Olamide Niyi-Afuye, CEO of AMDA. “With RMI’s leadership in energy transition strategies and AMDA’s fast-growing developer network, we are excited to advance policy change, scale innovation, and build energy systems that truly serve African communities.”
The collaboration is supported by ClimateWorks Foundation, a catalyst for accelerating climate progress, driving bold solutions that benefit people and the planet.
“Accelerating access to clean, reliable energy is critical to addressing energy poverty, boosting economic development and improving public health,” said Jide Ikeako, Director, Global Energy Transition Initiative- Africa Program at ClimateWorks Foundation. “We are pleased to support this collaboration between AMDA and RMI, which exemplifies the kind of bold, systems-level partnership needed to unlock affordable energy solutions for millions of people across Africa.”
The signing comes at a pivotal moment: nearly 600 million people in Africa still lack access to reliable electricity. At the same time, the increasing frequency of climate-related disasters underscores the urgent need for a resilient and clean energy transition. Through this partnership, AMDA and RMI aim to turn urgency into action by driving scalable, locally grounded, and system-aligned solutions.
—End—
Contacts:
• AMDA Communications – communications@africamda.org
• RMI Media Relations – media@rmi.org
About AMDA
The Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA) is an industry association formed by private sector minigrid developers and development partners dedicated to improving the political and financial environments for minigrid companies in Africa. AMDA serves as the unified voice for minigrid developers, working to accelerate their path to scale and sustainability in achieving universal access to sustainable, reliable, affordable, and modern energy across the continent. Currently, AMDA has over 60 member companies operating in 24 African countries. Learn more at africamda.org and follow us on LinkedIn and X.
About RMI
RMI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that transforms global energy systems through market-driven solutions to secure a prosperous, resilient, clean energy future for all. RMI works with businesses, policymakers, and communities to scale renewable energy solutions, reduce energy waste, and boost access to affordable clean energy. In Africa, RMI supports the deployment of distributed energy solutions, policy innovation, and financing strategies that unlock energy access and climate resilience. Learn more at rmi.org.