Africa’s Energy Wealth Contrasts With Electricity Access Crisis

Africa’s considerable reserves of oil, natural gas and critical minerals exist alongside a severe electricity-access gap affecting hundreds of millions of people, according to an Al Jazeera visual explainer.

The report maps the continent’s energy resources, electricity-generation mix and access to power as energy ministers, investors and oil executives gather in Cape Town for African Energy Week. The conference was scheduled to continue until October 16 and focuses on oil and gas investment, energy finance and efforts to end energy poverty.

Oil and gas reserves

Africa has approximately 125 billion barrels of proven crude-oil reserves, representing 7.2 percent of the global total. Libya holds the largest share, with 48.4 billion barrels, followed by Nigeria with 36.9 billion barrels. Algeria, Angola, South Sudan and Egypt have 12.2 billion, 7.78 billion, 3.75 billion and 3.3 billion barrels respectively.

Libya and Nigeria together account for nearly 70 percent of Africa’s proven oil reserves. Nigeria was also the continent’s largest oil producer in 2024, contributing about 23 percent of African output. Algeria and Angola each accounted for about 17 percent, meaning the three countries produced 56 percent of Africa’s oil. The top five producers contributed more than 80 percent of the continent’s output.

Africa produced 7.6 percent of the world’s crude oil in 2024. The continent also held almost 18 trillion cubic metres of proven natural-gas reserves at the end of 2023. Nigeria and Algeria held about 58 percent of those reserves, while Mozambique, Egypt and Libya had 2.84 trillion, 2.21 trillion and 1.51 trillion cubic metres respectively.

Critical minerals

The report also outlines Africa’s role in supplying minerals used in batteries, electric vehicles, renewable-energy systems and industrial production.

African countries accounted for 71.2 percent of global cobalt production and 72.4 percent of global manganese production in 2025. The Democratic Republic of the Congo produced nearly 70 percent of the world’s cobalt, a mineral used in rechargeable batteries.

South Africa and Gabon were the leading African manganese producers. South Africa contributed nearly 38 percent of global output and Gabon nearly 25 percent; together with Ghana, the three countries accounted for 72.4 percent of worldwide production.

Zimbabwe was Africa’s largest lithium producer in 2025, representing 9.6 percent of global output. Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania collectively produced 222,000 tonnes of natural graphite, equal to 11.9 percent of global production. Graphite is used in the anodes of most lithium-ion batteries and in other industrial applications.

Uneven electricity generation and access

Electricity generation varies sharply across the continent. Renewables supplied all electricity generated in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2024. Uganda, Namibia and Eswatini each generated more than 96 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.

By contrast, renewables accounted for less than 5 percent of electricity generation in Algeria, Libya, Niger and Tunisia. Ethiopia’s electricity comes mostly from hydropower, led by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. The dam began generating power in 2022 and was officially inaugurated in September 2025.

Six countries—Algeria, Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Seychelles and Tunisia—reported universal electricity access in 2024. Their combined population was approximately 215 million, or about 14 percent of Africa’s population.

Access remains especially limited elsewhere. South Sudan reported electricity access for 5.4 percent of its population, while the rates were 15.6 percent in Malawi and 22.5 percent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nigeria’s access rate was 62.5 percent, leaving roughly 85 million people without electricity.

The World Health Organization, as cited by the report, estimates that more than 560 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. That represents about 86 percent of the global population without electricity. In rural areas, access is generally lower than in cities, and some families rely on kerosene lamps, candles or torches after dark.