Africa recorded a mean electricity worth of $0.141 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for residential customers and $0.134 per kWh for companies in the third quarter of 2026.
This is in line with GlobalPetrolPrices knowledge up to date on October 5, 2026.
Despite the continental averages, electricity prices fluctuate considerably throughout African countries, with Ethiopia, Angola and Sudan recording a few of the lowest residential charges in the equipped nation knowledge.
Ethiopia has the lowest residential electricity worth at $0.006 per kWh, whereas Angola information the lowest business fee at $0.013 per kWh.
Here are the 10 African countries with the cheapest electricity prices, ranked from tenth to 1st primarily based on residential charges.
10. Cameroon — $0.085 per kWh
Cameroon ranks tenth on our checklist, with residential electricity priced at $0.085 per kWh and business electricity at $0.179 per kWh.
Its residential tariff is under the said African common of $0.141 per kWh. However, its business fee exceeds the continental enterprise common of $0.134 per kWh, making it the solely nation in the rating with a business electricity tariff above that benchmark.
In July, reports emerged that Cameroon deliberate to extend its vitality subsidy price range to 340 billion CFA francs in 2027, reversing years of cuts and sustaining state assist for gasoline and electricity prices.
The proposed allocation is 30 billion CFA francs greater than the 310 billion CFA francs budgeted for 2026, in line with the nation’s 2027–2029 Medium-Term Economic and Budgetary (*10*) Document.
The enhance varieties a part of a broader rise in authorities transfers and subsidies, projected to achieve 1,246.6 billion CFA francs in 2027, up from 1,202.2 billion CFA francs in 2026.
Cameroon’s state-owned electricity utility, Socadel, had 1,090,654 customers with prepaid meters as of the end of September 2026, out of a complete buyer base of two,431,711.
According to figures launched by the firm on October 8, pay as you go meters accounted for 44.85% of all electricity subscriptions.
Socadel changed Eneo in 2026 after the Cameroonian authorities took over the electricity operator.
9. Tunisia — $0.067 per kWh
Tunisia, in North Africa, has a residential electricity tariff of $0.067 per kWh and a business fee of $0.116 per kWh. Both charges are under the said African averages of $0.141 per kWh for households and $0.134 per kWh for companies.
While Tunisia’s business tariff is comparatively near the continental benchmark, its residential fee is significantly decrease, making electricity extra reasonably priced for households primarily based on the said figures.
However, decrease tariffs haven’t shielded the nation from strain on its electricity provide. In July, Tunisian authorities resorted to rolling energy cuts amid a extreme heatwave, as electricity demand surged greater than 30% above regular ranges, triggering disruptions and outages in a number of areas.
With temperatures reaching report highs throughout the peak summer season consumption interval, the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) launched load administration measures via scheduled energy cuts to ease strain on the nationwide grid and scale back the threat of a nationwide blackout.
Earlier in the yr, Tunisia’s parliament authorized a $430 million mortgage for STEG to strengthen its monetary place and maintain funding in electricity infrastructure. Officials have pressured that bettering the firm’s monetary capability is important to sustaining vitality safety and making certain a dependable electricity provide.
8. Democratic Republic of the Congo — $0.066 per kWh
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has residential electricity priced at $0.066 per kWh and business electricity at $0.077 per kWh.
Both tariffs are under the said African averages of $0.141 per kWh for households and $0.134 per kWh for companies. The business fee is just barely greater than the residential tariff, reflecting comparatively low electricity prices throughout each buyer classes.
According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), the DRC is pursuing reforms to strengthen electricity sector regulation, enhance the monetary sustainability of utilities, entice funding and broaden entry to electricity.
As a part of these efforts, President Félix Tshisekedi not too long ago directed an accelerated rollout of agreements and authorized reforms for the Grand Inga hydropower venture. The directive adopted reviews that the DRC and South Africa would resume discussions on the Inga 3 section.
At a Council of Ministers assembly on March 20, Tshisekedi instructed related ministries and the Kongo Central provincial authorities to finalise cooperation agreements with the Agency for the Development and Promotion of the Grand Inga Project inside 60 days.
Inga 3 stays in the preparation section, with its ultimate design nonetheless into account. Its deliberate producing capability ranges from roughly 3,000 megawatts to greater than 10,000 megawatts, whereas the complete venture value is predicted to exceed $10 billion.
To assist preparations, the World Bank has backed a phased financing programme that would attain $1 billion. This contains an preliminary $250 million tranche authorized in 2025 to strengthen establishments, put together infrastructure and handle social and environmental dangers.
The venture is predicted to play a major function in increasing the DRC’s electricity technology capability, though its final contribution will rely upon financing, implementation and the growth of transmission infrastructure to ship energy to customers.
7. Algeria — $0.041 per kWh
Algeria ranks seventh, with a residential electricity worth of $0.041 per kWh and a business fee of $0.035 per kWh.
Unlike most countries on the checklist, Algeria’s business electricity worth is decrease than its residential fee. Both prices stay properly under the said continental averages.
6. Nigeria — $0.036 per kWh
Nigeria has residential electricity costing $0.036 per kWh and business electricity priced at $0.050 per kWh. These charges are roughly 74.5% and 62.7% under the respective African averages of $0.141 and $0.134 per kWh.
However, comparatively low tariffs don’t essentially translate into cheaper or extra dependable electricity for customers. Grid provide constraints and the value of other energy sources, together with petrol and diesel mills, can considerably enhance the total vitality bills of households and companies.
The nation’s subsidised electricity tariffs additionally carry a considerable fiscal burden. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reported that the Federal Government’s electricity subsidy legal responsibility reached roughly N1.92 trillion in 2025, reflecting the hole between the value of supplying electricity and the regulated tariffs paid by customers.
The subsidy burden has elevated significantly in latest years, rising from about N650 billion in 2023 to N1.94 trillion in 2024 earlier than settling at roughly N1.92 trillion in 2025.
Quarterly figures for 2025 present that subsidy obligations stood at N536.4 billion in the first quarter, N514.35 billion in the second, N458.75 billion in the third and N418.79 billion in the fourth quarter. The figures point out a gradual decline in quarterly obligations over the yr, though the total value stays important.
Nigeria launched a band-based electricity tariff system in 2024, grouping clients in line with the anticipated length of each day energy provide. Under the association, Band A clients, who’re anticipated to obtain at the least 20 hours of electricity each day, have moved nearer to cost-reflective tariffs, whereas clients in decrease bands proceed to learn from better tariff safety.
The coverage displays the authorities’s try and stability the monetary sustainability of the electricity sector with customers’ potential to pay. However, the persistent subsidy burden highlights the problem of sustaining reasonably priced tariffs whereas making certain that electricity suppliers have ample income to enhance provide and infrastructure.
For Nigeria, the key subject is subsequently not merely the worth customers pay per kilowatt-hour, however whether or not the electricity they obtain is dependable sufficient to cut back their dependence on costly options.
5. Zambia — $0.024 per kWh
Zambia ranks fifth, with a residential electricity worth of $0.024 per kWh and a business fee of $0.041 per kWh.
The nation’s reported family and enterprise charges are each considerably under the said African averages, inserting Zambia amongst the countries with decrease electricity prices in the comparability.
4. Egypt — $0.023 per kWh
Egypt, from North Africa, ranks fourth on the checklist, with residential electricity priced at $0.023 per kWh and business electricity at $0.039 per kWh. Both charges are considerably under the said African averages of $0.141 per kWh for households and $0.134 per kWh for companies. Egypt’s residential tariff is lower than one-fifth of the continental family common.
Despite these comparatively low prices, the authorities has adjusted electricity tariffs to deal with monetary pressures throughout the vitality sector. In July, Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy introduced that tariffs would stay unchanged for the lowest family consumption bracket, whereas charges for different residential customers would enhance by a mean of 12%.
The ministry stated the revised tariffs have been supposed to assist the stability of electricity provide and the monetary sustainability of the nation’s electricity and renewable vitality community, together with energy technology, transmission and distribution.
The adjustment adopted an earlier enhance in April, when Egypt raised electricity prices for higher-consumption households and business customers by a mean of 16% to twenty%. The authorities cited a world vitality disaster linked to the struggle in the Gulf area, which had greater than doubled the nation’s vitality import invoice.
The tariff changes spotlight Egypt’s efforts to stability comparatively reasonably priced electricity prices for customers with the rising prices of vitality imports and the want to take care of a financially sustainable energy sector.
3. Sudan — $0.019 per kWh
Sudan has residential electricity priced at $0.019 per kWh and business electricity at $0.042 per kWh. Its residential fee is under $0.02 per kWh, whereas its business tariff can also be considerably decrease than the said African enterprise common of $0.134 per kWh.
Despite these comparatively low electricity prices, Sudan’s energy sector has suffered in depth injury since the outbreak of the battle, with losses estimated at $3 billion. The destruction has compelled companies, telecommunications firms and households to more and more depend on photo voltaic vitality, regardless of excessive set up prices and provide chain bottlenecks.
A report launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sudan stated widespread injury to the nationwide grid and energy technology infrastructure had pushed a pointy enhance in photo voltaic panel imports. The shift displays efforts by households and companies to bypass deteriorating electricity infrastructure and scale back their dependence on more and more costly diesel.
According to the UNDP, Sudan’s put in photo voltaic capability reached roughly 190 megawatts (MW) by 2025. However, this stays far under the nation’s pre-war renewable vitality ambitions, which focused 3,300 MW of capability by 2033, together with 2,190 MW from solar energy.
The figures spotlight the hole between Sudan’s renewable vitality ambitions and its present capability, as conflict-related injury continues to undermine the nationwide electricity system and push customers in the direction of different sources of energy.
2. Angola — $0.016 per kWh
Angola ranks second for residential electricity prices, with a tariff of $0.016 per kWh, whereas its business electricity fee stands at $0.013 per kWh. The business fee is the lowest amongst the 10 countries listed. Both tariffs are considerably under the said African averages of $0.141 per kWh for households and $0.134 per kWh for companies.
Despite its comparatively low electricity prices, Angola is pursuing plans to broaden energy technology capability to fulfill rising demand. In May 2026, the authorities introduced plans to extend put in technology capability from 6.4 gigawatts (GW) to 9 GW by 2027, in line with Angop.
The enlargement is predicted to be pushed by two main hydropower tasks: the 2.2 GW Caculo Cabaça plant on the Middle Kwanza River and the 881-megawatt (MW) Baynes hydropower venture on the Cunene River, alongside the border between Angola and Namibia.
Construction of the Caculo Cabaça venture started in 2017, with completion anticipated by October 2026. The venture was initially scheduled to start operations in 2024. Meanwhile, the Baynes venture is a joint initiative between Angola and Namibia, with a ultimate funding choice anticipated in 2026 and development scheduled to start in 2027.
Angola can also be pursuing a long-term vitality transition technique. In 2023, the authorities launched its Angola 2050 Long-Term Strategy, changing the Angola Energy 2025 Vision, which aimed to boost the electrification fee to about 60% and enhance put in technology capability to 9.9 GW by 2025.
Under the new technique, Angola goals for renewables to account for 95% of newly put in energy technology capability by 2050. The targets replicate the nation’s efforts to broaden electricity technology whereas rising the contribution of renewable vitality to its energy combine.
1. Ethiopia — $0.006 per kWh
Ethiopia ranks first amongst the 10 countries in contrast, with residential electricity priced at $0.006 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and business electricity at $0.019 per kWh. Its residential tariff is the lowest in the rating, at lower than one US cent per kWh, whereas its business fee can also be considerably under the said African enterprise common of $0.134 per kWh.
The nation’s low electricity prices distinction with rising regional demand for its energy provide. In July 2026, Kenya Power introduced plans to import an extra 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Ethiopia from December, rising its contracted capability to 400 MW throughout peak demand intervals.
The enlargement builds on a 20-year energy buy settlement signed by Kenya and Ethiopia in 2022, which initially offered for 200 MW of electricity imports. Under the revised association, provide is predicted to achieve 400 MW throughout peak hours and fall to 150 MW throughout off-peak intervals.
The further imports are anticipated to assist Kenya meet rising electricity demand and ease strain on home technology. The nation’s peak energy demand reached a report 2,439 MW in December 2025, underscoring its rising reliance on regional electricity imports to assist provide.
Ethiopia’s place as the lowest-cost residential electricity supplier in the rating highlights the potential function of its energy sector in regional vitality commerce, as neighbouring countries search further provides to fulfill rising demand.
