Labour unions in Africa, including Nigeria, have jointly rejected the African Development Bank (AfDB) and World Bank-assisted ‘Mission 300’ electricity access programme, as they argued that the initiative further places ‘unsustainable debt burdens on already struggling governments.’

The labour unions while bemoaning the continent’s growing debt burden, further carpeted the international financiers over failed previous projects which have only delivered unsustainable power supply to countries on the continent amid persistent electricity access gaps.

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The unions, under the platform of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa), Public Services International (PSI), and IndustriAll Global Union Sub-Saharan African Region have members including; the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The joint statement by the unions which was released during the just-concluded 2026 Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank in Brazzaville, Congo, described ‘Mission 300’ as a continuation of failed neo-liberal approaches to electrification.

The labour groups noted further that the new initiative bears similarity with the AfDB’s New Deal on Energy for Africa launched a decade earlier.

“Despite previous promises by international financial institutions, about 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity,” the statement read.

The unions argued that the New Deal failed to meet its targets, with roughly 50 per cent of sub-Saharan Africans remaining without power at the beginning of 2026.

They criticised Mission 300 for relying heavily on private sector investment through ‘de-risking’ public funds, stating that this approach places unsustainable debt burdens on already struggling governments.

The unions, therefore, called for a ‘Reclaim and Restore’ approach focused on strengthening public electricity utilities instead of prioritising private interests.

The statement further expressed concern over tariff adjustments aimed at achieving 100 per cent operational cost recovery, which they said weakens public utilities and fails to expand infrastructure.

The development comes on the heels of the recent cancellation of the final tranche of $717.7 million of the World Bank-backed Power Sector Recovery Performance-Based Operation (PSRO).

The PSRO was approved in June 2020 to support Nigeria’s power sector recovery programme geared towards improving electricity reliability, restoring financial viability, and strengthening accountability across the industry.

According to the World Bank restructuring document, the programme had a combined total commitments of approximately $1.51 billion from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

Of that amount, roughly $796 million has already been disbursed before the cancellation, leaving $717.7 million undrawn.

Clarifying on the cancellation, the

Senior External Affairs Officer, Mansir Nasir, explained that the cancellation of the undisbursed portion of the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) was a joint decision influenced by changing sector conditions and implementation challenges.

He, however, stressed that other key interventions, such as the Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project and renewable energy initiatives, are still being actively funded.