Fifty-two thousand kilometres of wire: Burundi's $1.4 billion plan to bring light to 8 million people

In Bujumbura, the Government of Burundi and Weza Power have signed a 25-year partnership to do something the country has never had the means to attempt: wire up half the nation. The $1.4 billion deal — described as the largest investment in Burundi's history — will build or upgrade 52,000 kilometres of distribution lines and connect more than 1.2 million households and businesses. Today only about 15% of Burundians can reach grid electricity; the plan aims to lift that above 50%, giving first-time or improved access to an estimated 8 million people, and it is expected to create over 2,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs. The partnership carries backing from Mission 300 partners including the World Bank, IFC, MIGA and the African Development Bank, and is structured so the build-out does not add to public debt. President Évariste Ndayishimiye called electricity 'the foundation of Burundi's economic transformation.' The lines are not built yet — this is a signed, financed plan, not a finished grid — but for one of the world's least-electrified countries, the starting gun has genuinely fired.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: funding & finance