African countries must move beyond expanding electricity access for household consumption and focus on using energy as a catalyst for industrialisation, value addition and economic transformation, policy leaders at the Future of Energy Conference 2026 have said.While African economies continue to pursue ambitious targets for universal electricity access, the experts argue that access alone will not deliver meaningful economic transformation unless energy systems are designed to support productive sectors.Ghana, for instance, currently has about 89 percent electricity access and is targeting universal access by 2030.At the conference, organised by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), experts stressed the need for African countries to align their energy strategies with industrial and economic development priorities.Dr Marit Kitaw, Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), said there could be no just minerals transition without a corresponding just energy transition.She said Africa must fundamentally rethink how it plans and deploys energy, moving from a consumption-driven approach towards one that supports production.“Universal energy access remains a moral and development imperative. Access alone is not enough and industrial transformation requires power that is affordable, reliable, scalable and available,” she said.Dr Kitaw’s position was echoed by Ghana’s Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, who called for a shift from the export of raw materials towards high-value production within Africa.“We must not replace fossil fuel export with raw minerals export and call it transformation because that it not,” he emphasised.The Finance Minister said Africa’s industrialisation agenda must be pursued collectively, leveraging the continent’s large market rather than treating its 54 economies as isolated markets.“Africa must industrialise as one market, not 54 fragmented economies. The Africa Continental Free Trade Area gives us reach, but agreements alone do not create trade. We must move from trading what we produce to producing what Africa trades in,” he stated.He said Africa had the resources, market and human capital required to transform its economic fortunes, but the continent must now translate those advantages into productive capacity.“The resources are here in Africa, the market is with us, the people of Africa are ready. Let us turn Africa’s potential into production; production into jobs; and jobs into prosperity,” the Minister said.Dr Kitaw further noted that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides an opportunity to transform fragmented national markets into a single market of about 1.4 billion people.She said stronger regional energy cooperation could also provide the foundation for industrial growth by improving reliability, lowering costs and enabling countries to optimise their energy resources.“Regional power pools can help countries share generation capacity, reduce system costs and improve reliability, while regional mineral corridors can connect mines to processing hubs, manufacturing centers and markets,” she said.According to Dr Kitaw, Africa’s energy strategies should be directly linked to mineral development plans, industrial policies, trade frameworks, infrastructure corridors and skills development.The policy leaders’ call comes as African countries seek to leverage their vast mineral resources, expanding energy systems and the AfCFTA to accelerate industrialisation, create jobs and retain more value from the continent’s natural resources.The emerging consensus is that Africa’s energy transition must not only ensure that people have electricity, it must ensure that electricity powers factories, processing plants, businesses and the productive economy.