8 June 2023, Lilongwe, Malawi.
To help transform the national energy sector, Malawi has embarked on a journey as one of the 21 African countries implementing the Africa Minigrids Program (AMP), UNDP’s largest energy access program.
Access to energy is a precondition to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.  However, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest deficit for energy access in the world, with countries like Malawi at just 18% of electricity access.
The Africa Mini-grids Program is a regional energy access program which is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), led by UNDP in partnership with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and the African Development Bank, to advance off-grid and mini-grid developments.
The Africa Mini-grids Program in Malawi is building on existing activities already in place and is directly aligned with the National Energy Policy, which recognizes the role that off-grid and mini-grid systems play in reducing or closing the electricity supply deficit in the country.
“Closing the energy access gap is at the core of UNDP’s work in Malawi and mini-grids have proven to be an excellent alternative source of energy, with a significant potential to grow. It is therefore encouraging to see that our investments in energy are garnering the attention they deserve from across different sectors, including the private sector,” said UNDP Resident Representative, Shigeki Komatsubara.
Through the Africa Mini-grids Program, UNDP in collaboration with the Government of Malawi and other partners will advance innovative business models to stimulate economic development by targeting productive users and ensuring cost-effective delivery of electricity.
By supporting the productive uses of energy, the program aims to bring a wide array of development benefits of energy access and is expected to directly benefit over 760 persons (51% women). 
The program also aims to achieve the promotion of clean energy mini-grids through: 
• Ensuring the adoption of appropriate policies and regulations addressing policy, institutional, regulatory, and technical barriers to investment in mini-grids.
• Operationalizing innovative business models, based on cost reduction.
• Increasing awareness and network opportunities in the mini-grid market, as well as mainstreaming data and digitalization across stakeholders
The AMP is a key component of UNDP’s pledge to mobilize partners through its Sustainable Energy Hub to enable 500 million additional people to have access to sustainable, affordable, reliable energy by 2025.
For more information, contact UNDP Malawi Communications comms.support.mw@undp.org.