Burundi Signs Historic $1.4 Billion Partnership with American Firm to Overhaul Power Grid
Bujumbura, Burundi — The government of Burundi has finalized a $1.4 billion, 25-year public-private partnership with Anzana Electric Group to modernize and expand the country’s electricity distribution network. Officials described the agreement, signed this week, as the largest investment in Burundi’s history and a major step toward bringing reliable power to millions of people.
The partnership, implemented through Weza Power, a subsidiary of the American company, will focus on rehabilitating and extending low- and medium-voltage distribution lines across a significant portion of the country. The project is designed to raise the national electrification rate from roughly 12 percent to as high as 70 percent in the coming years, delivering first-time or improved access to an estimated 8 million Burundians. It includes the construction or upgrade of approximately 52,000 kilometers of distribution lines and more than 1.2 million new household and business connections.
The initiative is expected to generate more than 2,000 direct jobs in installation and operations, along with over 30,000 indirect employment opportunities for local workers. Beyond immediate access to electricity, the expanded grid is intended to support broader economic activity, including growth in mining, agro-processing, and other sectors that have been constrained by unreliable power.
Anzana Electric has maintained a presence in Burundi’s energy sector since 2018 through its hydropower operations. Company representatives and Burundian officials said the new distribution concession builds on that existing relationship and years of preparatory work. The arrangement represents the first new national-scale electricity distribution concession operated by a private company in Africa in more than two decades.
Financing for the project relies on a blended structure that combines private capital with concessional funding. The partnership aligns with Burundi’s national energy goals and is expected to create conditions for additional private-sector investment from the United States and elsewhere. Reliable electricity is widely viewed as a prerequisite for industrial development and supply-chain resilience in the region.
Implementation will unfold over the multi-decade life of the concession, with initial focus on expanding coverage in both urban and rural areas. While the targets are ambitious given Burundi’s historically low electrification rates, particularly in rural zones, both sides have framed the agreement as a long-term effort to transform energy access and economic opportunity.
The signing marks a concrete step in expanding power infrastructure in one of the world’s least electrified countries and is expected to be closely watched as a potential model for similar private-led distribution projects elsewhere on the continent.
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