Burundi — the reference platform.

1Instruments in place

1. Memorandum of understanding with FAO on the productive use of renewable energy in agriculture — June 2026; ground broken together on the first agro-energy hub, 4 August 2026
2. Cooperation protocol with the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock — 10 September 2026 — bringing the hubs into the Ministry's own programs, including the national agro-energy hub program
3. Ministry of Energy: favorable opinion on an integrated 150 MW renewable platform including decentralized mini-grids — June 2026
4. Memorandum of understanding with the CEFORE-Rusi polytechnic campus — August 2026 — operations headquarters, demonstration hub, national and continental training academy
5. Framework agreement with the African Agribusiness Incubators Network, signed at Bujumbura, August 2026
6. Collaboration agreement with the Banque d'Investissement et de Développement pour les Femmes (BIDF) — signed at Gitega, 23 September 2026 — Gigawatt Burundi S.A. designated BIDF's technical partner for women-led energy enterprises and women's qualification in energy trades

2Agriculture and value chains

Cassava, banana, sweet potato, maize, beans and rice are the volume crops; coffee is the export crop. Farms average well under a hectare; post-harvest losses run near a fifth for maize. Some 120,000 hectares of marshland remain largely undeveloped — the case for milling, drying, cold rooms and low-lift irrigation at the hubs.

3Energy compact and regulation

Burundi's National Energy Compact under Mission 300 (September 2025) targets 70% electricity access, 300 mini-grid sites, 850,000 solar home systems and 40% clean cooking by 2030. The electricity law as amended on 22 March 2024 opened generation, distribution partnerships, mini-grids and off-grid sales to private operators; a rural electrification and mini-grid decree and a universal energy access fund followed in March 2026.

4Counterpart institutions

Energy

Ministère de l'Hydraulique, de l'Énergie et des Mines; REGIDESO (utility); ABER (rural electrification agency); AREEN (regulator)

Agriculture

Ministère de l'Environnement, de l'Agriculture et de l'Élevage (MINEAGRIE)

Finance

Ministère des Finances, du Budget et de la Planification Économique

Training

CEFORE-Rusi polytechnic campus, Gitega province; University of Burundi

5Programs the hubs can attach to

• Soleil-Nyakiriza solar energy program and its solar and clean-cooking fund (World Bank)
• National agro-energy hub program (Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock)
• Global Agriculture and Food Security Program submissions
• Mission 300 National Energy Compact and its results-based access windows
• FAO country program on productive use of renewable energy

6What is different here

1. Density and short distances: one of Africa's most densely populated countries, so clusters, technicians and e-mobility fleets reach every site within a working day.
2. No fuel to waste: recurring fuel shortages and scarce foreign exchange make electric mobility and domestically made briquettes an urgency, not a preference.
3. The hardest proving ground: among the lowest electricity-access and clean-cooking rates anywhere. A model proven here replicates anywhere.

7How deployment runs

The first hubs are under construction with FAO; further sites are held under concession from the Ministry of Energy; the national agro-energy hub program provides the next wave; a national deployment plan runs to 2030. The Rusi campus assembles, repairs, warehouses and trains for the whole network.

8Next step

Engagement runs through the Bujumbura headquarters.

A country launch-phase package — site assessment, equipment configuration against local crops and volumes, the partner and program map, and a funding roadmap built on programs already financed in the country — is prepared jointly with the country member for an interested government or funder.

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